The Unexpectedly Changed Life of Emery
by TheRadiantFire
Summary: PART I: A NEW LIFE - After visiting a bookstore in London, Emery and Ava literally step into another world. Middle Earth is recovering from the War of the Ring, but there is a new danger approaching. What? No one knows. Emery however, learns her life has been one big fat lie, and together with Ava they are swept into an unexpected journey. Will they survive? [Fourth Age]
1. The Bookstore on Portobello Road

**CHAPTER I - The Bookstore on Portobello Road**

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Of course I do not own The Lord of the Rings (it would be damn awesome if I did, though)._

 _Enjoy reading :)_

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"Oh, crap. It's going to rain." Emery felt the tiny rain drops falling down on her arm. The next moment itstarted pouring rain. "Come on," her best friend Ava said, "let's find shelter."

It was Spring Break and the girls decided to plan a city trip to London. Emery and Ava knew London would be much more rainy than Pensacola, their hometown, but still hoped that at least one day the sun would shine. It already was their third day and tomorrow, they would fly back to the United States.

Today, Emery and Ava decided to walk along Portobello Road, but their stroll was rudely interrupted by the typical English weather. "Shit," Emery sighed, "we haven't even visited an old bookstore yet."

Old and vintage-looking book shops with well-known literature had becomeEmery's new aesthetic, so buying a book at those old fashioned bookstores was a must.

They stood under a shed of a greengrocer and scanned the street. "What about that one, at the corner?", Ava asked. Emery looked at where Ava was pointing her index-finger to.

" _Gandalf's Bookstore_ ", she read aloud. "No, it says ' _Albert's Bookstore_ '", Ava corrected her and frowned. "Oh",Emery said and looked again. Ava was right, she didn't know how she could've misread that.

They sprinted towards the bookstore and panted as they stood in front of the door. A soft bell was heard when they opened the door. Emery and Ava stood there in awe, looking around the beautifulshop.

"Wow..." Ava sighed as she looked up to the ceiling, expecting it to be closer to her head. But instead, the ceiling was two floors further away. The floors were open in the center of the bookstore and had an overlooking view of the ground floor.

"There must be more than a thousandbooks or so!" Emery said, walking towards a stack of books and picked one up. "Closer to six thousand, I must add." Emery and Ava turned around to see an old man standing next to a bookcase. He had white hair and a walking stick in his right hand.

"Pardon me," he said and smiled, "I did not want to scare you off, ladies."

Emery put the book down after briefly judging its cover. "Oh, of course not, Mr..." she didn't finish her sentence as a gesture she wanted to know his name.

"Albert White", he said. "Well," Emerysaid and walked towards him to shake hands, "it is a pleasure to meet you Gandalf White." The man's eyes widened as she said that name.

"Emery," Ava sighed, "his name is Albert, just as the bookstore's name is..."

"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. White." He shook his head and chuckled. "You two look interested in old literature, so how about I show you around the book store? Just so you can find everything I have to offer you?" The ladies traded glances and nodded. "That would be really nice, Mr. White", Ava said.

"Well," Albert White began, "on the ground floor, you can find the well-known novels, mostly 20th century." He paused and grabbed a book from the bookcase next to him. It was the famous book '1984' and he put it back on the shelf.

He walked towards the stairs and went on. "On the first floor, the books are mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries." Ava saw a pile of books on a desk.

"Wow," she said and her eyes widened, "this looks like the first copy!" She held the pieces of paperin her hand as if they were holy. "That's because it is", Mr. White said and grinned.

"Cool," she said and looked at Emery, "I think I'll stay here for a moment, Em. I want to look through this copy." Emery chuckled and nodded.

Emery followed the old man to the second and last floor. She was surprised to see he was so fit, yet he looked he was almost eighty years old.

"Now this, milady, has a slightly different theme", he said as he walked around. This floor wasn't lit as well as the floors below. The ends of the room were darker, since the light didn't reach it.

Emery looked amazed, Mr. White could see her curious eyes wander through the bookcases.

" _Middle Earth..._ " she read aloud and grabbed the big book. She looked around for a table where she could put the heavy book down.

"Ah," Mr. White said as he walked over the table, "you have chosen a very good one." Emery looked at him curiously and he half-smiled. She opened it and saw a folded paper between the pages. She unfolded it and saw it was a map, titled with _The Realm of Middle Earth_.

She frowned, skimming through the map and reading the names of Kingdoms and areas she didn't recognize aloud. "Rohan, Blue Mountains, Rivendell..? What is this place?"

How could a person make this up? It was well formed and looked very professional. Maybe someone liked drawing maps so much he wanted to continue doing it by making continents up. The map was old, it had a sallow color and it was torn on the right side.

"Some people say this map, and all the information you can find on this floor was made up, just someone's imagination. Others actually believe this continent, and all of the legends with it, truly existed, and still might exist", Mr. White said.

Emery looked around, stunned by the amount of books that have been written about this place. She left the desk, with the book still opened, and walked towards a big bookcase.

She grabbed a book with the title _Mirkwood and its Legacies_. "I saw this on the map!" she said and opened it. Shequickly skimmed it until she saw the word _Elves_.

"Elves?" she asked Mr. White. "Yes," he said, "it is believed Middle Earth was home to many creatures. Here, you should take a look at this book." He handed her a book with a brownish cover.

She opened it and paged through the book. There were drawings and descriptions of Elves, but she also read about the Race of Men, Dwarfs and tiny childlike people called Hobbits. Suddenly she saw a familiar name written down, which made her widen her eyes for a brief second. She closed the book and turned to Mr. White.

"So these books are, like, a major collection of tales and legends of races in this made up world Middle Earth?" She looked at the old man, who had watched her taking in all the information.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, milady, that is for you to believe." Emery frowned and laughed at the thought of this being real. But on the other hand, these books could have never been written by just one person. There were too many books on this floor, and each and every book was about this mysterious place.

She suddenly thought about Ava, who was still looking around on the first floor. It was time for them to leave. Just as she wanted to say she had to go, she saw a map hanging on the wall.

She walked towards it and looked at it. Emery shrugged and wanted to walk away, but felt something beneath her right foot. She was standing on a paper. She picked it up.

It wasn't a map of Middle Earth, but a map of London. Twelvelines were drawn and all of them led directly to one point. She read the name of the street. She kept her jaws clenched as her heart skipped a beat.

"It is believed that there might be a possibility to go from one place to another," Mr. White said as he came up behind her, but kept his distance, "a reef, which allows men to visit Middle Earth."

 _Portobello Road._

Emery started to feel slightly uneasy. "I'm afraid I'm not following you, sir." She looked at the map hanging on the wall. It also had twelve lines that led to one point, in a Kingdom called Gondor.

She looked closely at the map of London. "According to this map, the altitudes of Gondor and London are approximately... the same", she mumbled.

She turned around, looking at all the shelves. Then she turned to Mr. White. "Do you believe there is a reef in your bookstore to a place that might not even exist?" she asked, afraid of the answershe could get.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" he said as he gestured Emery to walk further, to the somewhat darker ends of the area.

 _This man is mad_ , she thought by herself. But she did, hesitating, still thinking everything was just an imagination of a writer, if not, writers.

One last book caught her eyes, _Gondor_ , and she grabbed it. She opened her mouth to say something.

"I don't think there is such thing as a-"

Her sentence was cut off when there was a rumbling sound, that only seemed to make the second floor shake. A bright light suddenly began to form out of the dark.

She looked at Mr. White when the realization hit her. "You are…" she stumbled, "Your- your name is not Albert White, but it _is_ Gandalf the White! I read it in the Book of Creatures!"

It was hard to believe, and her head was telling her- no, shouting at her to run away from this crazy man (wizard?!). Her heart was telling her otherwise.

Her heart and curiosity won. She turned back around, facing the light. It was drawing her in and the temptation was too big. Emery didn't think about Ava anymore as she took a step closer.

"Man, those stairs were killing! I can't believe you-" Ava was panting when she reached the second floor, but snapped out of it when she saw bright light coming from behind a bookcase. "What the actual... Emery?"

She ran towards the bookcase and saw Mr. White standing next to a pile of books. "Oh no..." he sighed as he saw her turning around to the light and ran towards it, following Emery.

"Wait for me! Emery! Where are you going?" she shouted.

The light had already faded when the bell rang downstairs. The wizard sighed as he was making his way downstairs.

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 _Soooooo that was the first chapter of my first ever written fanfic on this platform..! I really hope you guys enjoyed it, and please review this story if you have any tips and even suggestions, as long as they fit in the story. I already have some ideas in my mind… anyways thanks for reading_!

 _ **Pronounciation:**_

 _ **Emery: EM-u-ree**_

 _ **Ava: AA-vaa**_


	2. Just Ordinary Emery

**CHAPTER II - Just Ordinary Emery**

 _Hi again! So I thought it would smart if I wrote a chapter about how Emery and her best friend were like before all of this madness :) It's a little shorter, but the next chapters will be as long as the first one._

 _Enjoy reading!_

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Emery Aurelia Liliath was, her name in exception, quite an ordinary girl. She had ordinary friends, ordinary parents and an ordinary annoying brother. With that, he was an ordinary annoying brother who was only two minutes older than she was, and he liked to rub it in her face. Every. Day.

Her best friend was Ava, a beautiful girl which sometimesmade Emery a bit insecure about herself. She would look in the mirror and see a pale girl, with boring black hair and creepy green , Ava was always there to remind her she was not ugly, but a pretty girl with soft fair skin, raven black hair and shiny green eyes. The girls were very different:in appearance, but also in hobbies. Though they did share one love: reading. It didn't matter if it were literature or fanfics written on the internet, they loved it when they were having a sleepover and couldjust read for hours in silence.

Just like everone else, Emery had a secret talent. Well, more actually. Emery loved to sing. Ever when she was alone, she would play some music and sing along. She didn't care if it was off key, which it wasn't, she just enjoyed the sound of her melodious voice. Though the fact she liked singing made some people think Emery was an innocent girl, she wasn't. She had followed kickboxing lessons for nearly eight years, she started when she was twelve years old when she started. Unfortunately, she had to stop when she went to college.

Speaking of college, another thing she could do- or learn very well, was languages. Emery was a fast learner and could already speak French, Spanish and German. Emery was studying ancient languages, such as Gaelic and other Celtic ones, which interested her because of their origin.

The reason she studied ancient languages was a diary. Yes, it sounded cliché, but Emery would never have guessed that her family had a history or so. She just thought they were an ordinary family. The diary was written in a language Emery hadn't known. Usually, she could easily recognize language, even if she didn't speak it. This language, though, had many characterizes of Celtic languages, but no words were the same as those in Gaelic or Welsh for example. The dates were also weird. The years were different: it seemed to be the future compared to the regular year count, instead of the past.

Since she found the diary, Emery Always carried it with her, closely, afraid she would lose it.

It was February when Ava brought up London as a city trip. The Americangirls had never been to Europe before and wanted to start off with a well-known capital. London was a great idea, and so they stepped onto the plane, off to Great Brittain for the first time.

And now, they were somewhere they never could've imagined. They were stranded in another world, but would find out once they wake up.

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 _Thanks again for reading,_ _ **stay tuned**_ _for the next chapter, because they'll finally land in Middle Earth! Xx_


	3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow?

**CHAPTER III – Somewhere over the Rainbow?**

 _Hello, my friends! Another chapter! Emery has arrived in Middle Earth, but she doesn't know that Ava followed her into the light._

 _Enjoy :)_

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The bright light had not disappeared yet for Emery. As she woke up with the sun shining directly in her eyes, Emery groaned and rolled over. That was when long strands of her were all over her face. _What the…_ she thought. She sat up straight and looked down, only to see how long her hair was. For all she knew, her hair always had a weird wave, but now it was straight. Like, flattener straight. Oh, and it was long. Her hair gently flew over her chest and stopped at her waist. Emery didn't know whether she liked it or not.

Emery had no feelings. Literally. She couldn't feel her hands, and it felt like it took all of her power to lift one leg. She frowned and took in her surroundings, but saw nothing familiar. On the contrary, it looked like she was in an entirely different country. High mountain peaks reaching for the sky and rivers flowing in the distance made her think she was in New Zealand or something. She had never been there, but had this strange feeling that she also wasn't now. Where ever they were, it was not on the map of planet Earth.

 _Map_.

Suddenly she remembered everything that happened before she had woken up. The Bookstore, the man… No. He was a wizard. He told her about that strange world. What was it called again? It was something with _Earth_. "Oh!" she said out loud and covered her mouth with her hands. _Middle Earth_.

Emery tried to stand up, but squeaked when she felt a sudden pain in her left side and hip. She could definitely feel again. She placed her hand over the painful spot and looked. "Oh my God…" she almost whispered as she saw a deep cut in her side. _How did it get there?_ she thought as she clenched her jaws.

Despite the pain, Emery stood up, even though it hurt like hell. With one arm clamped around her stomach, her hand covering the wound, she struggled as she walked through the fields. The fields were quite flat, which made the high mountains along the horizon stand out even more. She didn't understand how she got here. Yes, she stepped into a light, but could that _zap_ her into another world?

As she was walking around in circles, she could hit herself. She could hit herself because she had a song stuck in her head, and she only knew two phrases. _Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. Dadaaa dee dada dee daaa, in a lullaby…_ Very ironic.

She looked around her in despair, but her eyes went back to one point. Right in front of her, in the distance, she saw movement. She duck down, but there was nowhere to hide. _F*ck,_ she scolded in her mind. _Why is this place so flat? Now I'm easily seen_. Emery squeezed her eyes, looking into the sun. They got close fast and by then she knew horse riders were heading straight toward her, and Emery didn't know what to do.

 _Ugh suck it,_ she thought to herself and lay half on her side and closed her eyes, pretending to be unconscious. _Shit. What if they run me over? What if I get squashed beneath those filthy horses?_

"Who is this young lady?" she heard from a distance. Emery slowly looked up to where the voice was coming from. Strangely enough, the man-voice wasn't talking about her. There were almost twenty men on horseback and they looked like knights. She saw a man hopping off his horse and slowly bending over a body… _Ava! Ava? But… how is she here? I don't remember her following me,_ she thought. _Wait! What if she is… She can't be dead right?_

The man's horse suddenly whinnied, which made Emery close her eyes again. She tried to relax her body as best as she could, but her muscles were too stiff because of the nervousness. "Look over there", another man-voice said and Emery heard footsteps coming over her way. She felt her heart pounding faster as the men got closer.

"Is that…" she heard another man, "…is that a she-Elf?" Emery's heart stopped. She almost had a freaking heart attack. _A SHE-ELF?_ For all she knew she didn't have pointy ears or something. An awkward silence fell and the men didn't seem to know what to do.

"We must not wait any longer," a strict voice suddenly said and thereby broke the silence, "Eárian, help me ascend the lady and the she-Elf on the horses. We will be doubling."

And before Emery knew it, she was carried by eight hands and placed on a horse. She was even tied up with her arms around the horse rider. _Maybe just to make sure I won't fall off? Or do they think that I am some sort of criminal? Do they torture criminals?!_

"If being the King of Gondor means being tied down to the same chair forever, then I will not."

Aragorn was pacing up and down in the main hall of Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor. It was nearly three months past his coronation, and he was sort of bored now that the war was over. Surely, it was nice that people did not die anymore because of the war, but there was not much to be done for him now.

"My darling," his wife Arwen said with a deep melodious tone in her voice, "you should settle down for a moment, for you are going to wind up too much. Come, now. Let us go to the market today, your people will be very glad to see you there." Arwen offered him her hand and smiled. Aragorn took it and smiled back as they walked outside.

"King Aragorn!" Children ran toward him as soon as Aragorn and Arwen approached the market. Aragorn chuckled and looked at his wife with somewhat questioning eyes. She understood him right away and squeezed his arm with her free hand. "Soon", she said and smiled.

The market was on the ground floor, just next to the gates of Minas Tirith, so it was no surprise when King Aragorn and Queen Arwen walked toward the gate as soon as it opened. The horsemen rode in and pulled their horses to a stop. The leader of them slid off his horse and walked over to the couple. "King Aragorn, Queen Arwen," he greeted and turned back to Aragorn, "we were just passing the island of Cair Andros when we found a young lady," he paused for a moment, "and a she-Elf." The men who were doubling with the girls guided their horse closer to the King and Queen.

Arwen shook her head a little. "That is certainly not how to treat a lady," she began and turned to her spouse, "let me take them to the Houses of Healing, the ladies look in desperately need of care." Aragorn nodded, appreciating her help.

Emery had fallen asleep during the ride to where ever they went. She woke up a second time with less bright light and she wasn't outside anymore. She blinked a few times, when she saw a woman sitting by her feet on her bed. She had a relieved smile at the sight of Emery waking up.

Emery faintly smiled back and took a good look around the room she was in. There were more beds, maybe ten more, and a few people were sleeping. Others were fed by women in nurses clothing, although the clothing looked different than the regular dressing of nurses.

Suddenly, Emery thought about Ava. Was she here? Or… was she dead? The thought of it cracked her up, but then she saw her lying in the bed next to her, sleeping in peace. Then she thought about what the man had said when the horsemen found her on the hill. _She-elf_. She brought her left hand to her left ear and gently touched it. She didn't feel a bow at the top of her ear- no, her ears _were_ pointy. Emery slightly panicked. _What? I didn't have ugly pointy ears back in London, so how do I have them now?!_ She looked back at the woman. She had wavy brown hair and fair skin. She was wearing a white dress, which made her look like an angel.

Emery was about to open her mouth to say something, when the woman shook her head lightly. " _tîn_ ", she said in a weird language and hushed. Emery figured it meant something like 'quiet' or so, but still wasn't sure. She sat straight up, expecting to feel the heavy pain in her side, but to her surprise she didn't feel anything. She looked at her side and saw bandage around her stomach. Her whole stomach. _Was it that bad?_ she thought. She looked back at the woman.

" _Man eneth lín?_ ", the woman said with a questioning look across her face. Emery frowned. The language the woman spoke sounded familiar, but she didn't understand it. "I…" she began, "I don't understand…" Now it was the woman's turn to frown. "You do not speak Sindarin?", she said in English. The sudden change in speaking confused Emery, but her voice had a pleasant sound. She slowly shook her head to clarify she didn't. She didn't even know what Sindarin was.

"Strange for an Elf to only speak Common-Tongue…" the woman spoke to herself as she stared to wall. Then she looked back at Emery. "What is your name, young lady?", she asked as she smiled again. "Emery Aurelia Liliath", Emery said. She didn't know why she had said her middle name. The woman nodded and introduced herself as Arwen Undómiel.

When Arwen left, Emery turned to Ava. She whispered her name and looked around to see if the nurses heard her. "Ava, wake up!"

Emery startled when a nurse walked over to her. "Hush, my lady," she said and grabbed the almost-fallen blanket to put it back on the bed, "you might wake the others." Emery sighed and lay back down on her bed. "Sorry…" she murmured. "I see you have met Queen Arwen", the nurse said and smiled. Emery's heart skipped a beat. "She… she is royal?!", she squeaked and lay her hand on her chest. The woman chuckled. "Now, do not be so agitated, my lady. Queen Arwen is very kind to have brought you and your companion to the Houses of Healing," she said with a reassuring smile but it faded away quickly and gave her strict look, "Go back to sleep now, and let your friend rest. She does not heal as well as you do."

Emery didn't understand what the nurse meant when she said that Ava didn't heal as fast as she did. The wound hurt no more, but the bandage said a lot, _right?_ She lay on the bed uncomfortably. She twisted and turned, though she didn't find a good position to sleep.

 _Where, oh, where am I in the name of God?_

"Emery"

She heard a distant voice while she was walking through dreamland. "Emery?" she opened her eyes to see Ava standing next to Emery's bed with a frown. Emery suddenly felt more awake and stood up to give her best friend a hug. "How are you here?", she asked as she let go of Ava. Her best friend took a deep breath at the thought of what happened in the bookstore.

"I don't know," she started and shrugged her shoulders, "I remember taking the stairs to the second floor after I was done reading that first copy, which was by the way _so_ good! But then I was upstairs and I saw this weird bright light coming from behind the bookcases… I didn't see you anywhere, just that weird Mr. White. I ran towards the light and saw your silhouette. And before I knew it I had a feeling I was falling down. I remember seeing the ground getting closer and closer… I assume I passed out. I broke my arm…" Emery suddenly saw the bandage around her left arm. "Oh my God, Ava", she said with a sad look on her face. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore", Ava said with a half-smile, but her eyes told otherwise.

"Excuse me," the girls turned around to see the nurse from earlier, "King Aragorn and Queen Arwen have asked me to bring you to the main hall." The girls' heart went faster as they heard the words King and Queen, but nodded casually. "But…" the nurse said and took a good look at the two ladies. Not their faces, but what they were wearing. "… I am most afraid that your dressing is not appropriate for meeting the royal highnesses."


	4. A New Danger

**CHAPTER IV – A New Danger**

 _New chapter! I flash forwarded a bit._

 _ **Disclaimer: I only own my imagination, not The Lord of the Rings films nor the books.**_

 _Enjoy the chapter!_

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It had been three weeks since the arrival of Emery and Ava when the gates opened again. A lot has changed in this time. What seemed to be only three weeks for the inhabitants of Minas Tirith, seemed to be a lifetime for the girls. They were granted a place to live among the people here, and they worked every day. Emery found herself on the sixth circle, helping in the Houses of Healing. Ava mostly helped the chef: she didn't cook, but washed the dishes the whole day. Besides the work, the girls also spoke more often with the Queen, Arwen, who invited them twice a week for breakfast. They didn't know why they had this privilege, but Emery and Ava enjoyed it.

Still, the girls had a hard time adjusting to this lifestyle. It was like this world didn't know the term leisure. But today, they finally had a day off, and it was just after noon when Emery found Ava outside, her arms resting on the stone fence, looking at the view of the wide fields behind the walls of the city. A few days ago, they overheard a conversation about those fields, which were apparently called the Pelennor Fields. Beyond that, the river Anduin flew, it was the river Emery saw when she had woken up there. It was a view that didn't get old besides the daily life.

Emery stood next to her best friend, the two traded glances. She was glad Ava was here, she couldn't imagine being here in this world all alone. Even though there was no denying they were here, Emery still didn't want to call this word Middle Earth. It just seemed surreal. Emery looked at Ava, who was gazing towards the mountains. Emery's eyes lowered to Ava's hands. She was holding Emery's phone and hers, playing with them between her fingers. She always did that when she was nervous. Whether she had to speak in public or had an exam, she always gave her hair ties to Emery, because otherwise she would be nervously playing with them.

"I found these again," Ava said, but kept looking straight forward. "I almost forgot about their existence." She looked down to the phones and gave one to Emery. She smirked at the sight of her phone case. It was her so called signature quote: _Free as the ocean_.

"It's useless now", Emery said and automatically clicked on the home button. Of course her phone was dead, it had been three weeks now.

"My last post on Instagram is probably already one month ago."

"Our streaks on Snapchat are long lost by now."

The girls laughed. They could easily say Social Media didn't mean anything for them. Their phones died the day after their arrival and it hurt them that there was no way for communication anymore. Of course, there was no service, but when their phones went black for good, they knew they had been completely cut off from their known world.

"I just wish I could call them", Emery said, meaning her parents and brother. "Do you think they're looking for us?"

Ava placed her hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Yes, I think they are."

Emery took a deep breath, letting a tear roll down her cheek. Their phone was beyond useless, and every time she looked at the damn thing, her mood would sink deeper and deeper, missing everything about her life before. Living here was boring. So boring. Her grip on the phone tightened in her right hand and she looked back up, her eyes meeting Ava's.

"You know what," she said suddenly, "we don't need this thing anymore." She hesitated and debated the words she was going to speak out loud. "There is no way we… I'm afraid we won't see them back. And I think the time's here to- to accept that." Another tear rolled over her cheek as she spoke those words. Ava just nodded. Suddenly she lifted her arm and threw the phone away as hard as she could, with a load groan. This surprised Emery for a moment, but just a few seconds later she did the same. Letting go of the phone and threw it away with all of her power. She was contend to see it fall to the ground just outside the walls meters down some seconds later. The girls looked at each other with mixed feelings, also feeling safe as long as they were together, and laughed.

The gates opened with a painful loud sound. Aragorn closed his eyes for a brief second, and when he opened them he saw a beautiful white horse. He looked up to see who his rider was, but King Aragorn already knew. "Gandalf!", he said with a smile from ear to ear. The white wizard got of his horse. "King Aragorn, Queen Arwen," he greeted and grinned. It had been a while since he had last seen this lovely couple. He grabbed the reins of his horse, Shadowfax, and walked further, the royal couple beside him. Unfortunately, Gandalf the White did not come to Minas Tirith to chit chat with the king and queen. Something was happening, and he desperately needed Aragorn's help.

"Tell me, my friend," Aragorn said as he sat down at the table next to his wife in the main hall, "why have you come? What can I do for you?" He knew the wizard well, Gandalf would not just come for conviviality or fun, he is not like that. Aragorn could easily read people, and Gandalf too, even though it was harder than most people.

"I fear that the danger is not quite over yet," the White Wizard said, and received a questioning look from Arwen. "Most of the Orcs were wiped out after the defeat of Sauron, but not quite all of them are gone."

"Do you mean that there are still Orcs out there?", Arwen said concerned.

The wizard sighed. "Yes," he spoke, "and I am most afraid that they are plotting a plan against us." Aragorn frowned. "But the Orcs have no leader anymore", he said, but was already aware of the fact he might be wrong. Gandalf shook his head firmly. "We do not know," he said, "all I know is that we must avoid this new…" he sought for his words "…tension in Middle Earth."

Aragorn thought. How could they hunt down Orcs when there was so little information about their whereabouts and how many there were? The information was far too vague to come up with a decent plan. "We know nothing so far," Arwen said and stood by her husband. "What would you like us, or him, to do?"

That they didn't know yet, so they decided that Gandalf should stay here a little longer. "Now," Gandalf said while making his way out, but fully turned around, "I wish to speak your new visitors. Emery Liliath and Ava Jones?" Arwen widened her eyes.

"How do you know, Gandalf?"

"Oh," he said with a grin, "I know a lot more than you think, my Queen."

Emery and Ava were called by a servant to go to the courtyard. He had said someone would like to meet them. The last time they had visited to the seventh and highest level, it was because the King and Queen wanted to speak to them. They wanted to know their visitors, and asked all kinds of questions about where they came from and why they were out in the Pelennor Fields.

The questions overwhelmed them, and Emery had said that they didn't remember anything before they had woken up. She also said that she had no idea that she was an Elf, which was an explanation of the fact that she couldn't speak their language, Sindarin. It was quite hard to believe for the royal highnesses, but the girls swore it was true. Eventually, Arwen believed them, and they were told that they had a place here, as a citizen in Minas Tirith.

They approached the courtyard when they saw a man with white hair and a white cloak. It was the face Emery recognized right away. As they got closer to him, Ava's heart pounded faster. "Mr. White?", she asked with wide eyes. She remembered how he stood there, looking at Emery stepping into the bright light, doing nothing. He had done this. It was his fault that they were here, in this ridiculously boring city.

"You may call me Gandalf," he said with a smile on his face, which Ava wanted to punch off his face. "It is a pleasure to see you have adjusted well to this place."

"I don't know what to say, actually", Emery said honestly and calm.

"You do not have to say anything, milady," he answered and gestured them to sit down on a bench. He suddenly looked more strictly to them. "And I do hope you have not already." The girls shook their heads. They knew he meant the reef. Apparently it was a secret, no one could know about it. It was weird to see him in these… disturbing clothes. He did look like a wizard now.

Emery shifted uncomfortably. "So are you," she cleared her throat, "are you a wizard?" He chuckled and spread his arms, as a sign to look at his white cloak. They already knew the answer to that question, though it was a weird thought.

It seems you already know the answer to that," he spoke, "but there is a reason why you are here." He glanced at Emery, meaning her for the most. It was her after all who first went to the reef. "What do you mean?", Ava asked confused. The wizard sighed. It wasn't her fault, but Ava simply should not have been here. It wasn't about her, it was all about Emery.

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 _I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Please **review this story!** Thanks :)_

 _-xoxo-_


	5. When Emery Got A Heart Attack

**CHAPTER V – When Emery got a Heart Attack**

 _Hellooooo another chapter here. In this chapter, Emery will learn about her history, so keep on reading!_

 _ **Enjoy! xx**_

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"Go", Ava waved Emery off and shrugged her shoulders when Gandalf asked her to speak privately. She was enjoying the sun anyway.

The wizard walked closer to the edge of the triangular shaped ground. Emery walked behind him, a bit slower. _How high are?_ she thought. _They definitely know how to make this place special._

"Emery," Gandalf said and stopped walking, but kept looking in the distance. She took a place next to him, not knowing what to expect. "You must know that I did not just pick a costumer randomly to bring to Middle Earth." Emery glanced at the wizard. What did he mean with that? "I don't understand, Mr.- Gandalf, I mean", she said and rubbed her arm. "As I said earlier," he went on, "there is a reason why you are here. You may have noticed your ears…" Emery nodded and touched her ear with her fingers. She'd forgotten about them until he mentioned them. "The reason that you have them is because you are an Elf. A half-Elf to be exact."

She was confused. Of course, her ears were the proof, and so was her long hair probably, but still it sounded surreal. She? An _Elf_? She hadn't had these pointy ears before she had woken up here. But then she repeated the wizard's words in her mind. Half-Elf. Emery gave Gandalf a questioning and confused look, hoping he would continue.

Gandalf took a deep breath, he found it hard to explain the story to Emery. "Your mother, Emery," he continued, "was an Elf. But your father was a proud rider of Rohan. This means you are Rohirrim, but you also carry the blood of a Lórien Wood Elf."

"But I don't understand. My parents are just… normal people, we moved from England when I was young" Emery took a few steps backwards with a confused look across her face. "My mother wasn't an Elf, I'm sure of it." She had lived in Florida since he was eight. Who the hell was he to tell her who she was?

"That is exactly what I want to tell you, Emery. It is very hard to explain, and hard to understand," the wizard answered and turned to her, "when you were born, here in Middle Earth, it was the beginning of a war. Perhaps you have read about Orcs in that book I gave you in the Bookstore?" Emery nodded, not quite sure where his story was leading to. Gandalf sighed as he went on. "A great enemy had returned, who he was and what the war was about is another story to be told. Those… filthy creatures followed this leader and attacked village by village, slaughtering more and more people. Your father was a proud man, noble too. So it was no surprise he accepted the request to fight. It was more a command, actually. In either way, he left you and your mother in Edoras, the capital city of Rohan. You were not even one year old by then." Emery listened to the story with her mouth open, looking more and more confused as he went on. "Even though the battle was won by Rohan, your father did not survive the fight, Emery."

Emery listened to the background story like it wasn't hers. It was all just a story. Right? "Your mother, who was immortal, mourned over his death. It is well known that Elves die out of grief, because if an Elf feels love for someone, they will stay with them forever. But she was strong, she would not let her grief and sadness overcome her. Unfortunately, Lórien too was not save. It was during that battle when she fled and encountered me", he paused, looking for the right words to say, "she begged me to save you, you were so young, yet you had a whole life in front of you. She was one of the few people who knew about another world, your world. She trusted me as a wizard to keep you safe. To give you a family. To give you a life."

Even though she didn't want to see it as _her_ past, she felt tears pricking in her eyes. There had been a short pause after that last sentence he spoke. Then, in all the sudden, Emery had stormed away. She ran all the way to where she lived, almost crashed through the front door and fell on her bed. She just couldn't believe it. Her parents in Pensacola were not her real parents? Does that mean she was adopted? How could that _stupid_ man or wizard just tell her that her whole life was a lie?

"Emery?", Ava called, breathing heavily. Minas Tirith was a big city, running down was not easy to do. People who were walking down the street glared at them for a moment, and then went back to their chores or work. Ava fell down next to Emery, put her arms around her, while Emery let tears roll down her eyes. She sobbed uncontrollably. "Shh," Ava hushed, "it's okay. It's all gonna be okay."

It hurt Ava to see her best friend like this. Hurt. "Are you saying you're adopted or something?" Emery sighed loudly, in despair. "I don't know, Ava. Everything is just… so weird. I'm an Elf? What the shit?!" She didn't know if she believed him. But if it was possible to zap to an unknown world through a bright light, this _could_ be possible to, right? "I want to go home", Emery said, and another tear rolled down as she said the word _home_. "I know, me too," Ava said, but then suddenly she came of a thought. "Wait, that wizard said he brought you to our world, right?" Emery nodded. "And then we came here," Ava followed. _Oh my God!_ "We could go back!", Emery said, almost shouted as her eyes widened. She suddenly stood up and wiped her tears away. Ava frowned.

"Where are you going?", she asked as Emery was making her way to the door.

"I am going to Gandalf", Emery said, opened the door and ran away.

"Wait for me!", Ava shouted and ran after her. Again.

"I already expected this," Gandalf sighed at the two ladies in front of him, "but my answer is no." Emery frowned, anger flushing through her. "That is real selfish, Mr. White", she almost hissed. "No, Emery," he answered, "if you would have let me finish my story, you would understand why. Besides, do you not want to find your mother?" Emery froze. "She- she is alive?" Ava raised an eyebrow. She didn't trust this man at all. "Yes," Gandalf said firmly, "she is. I received a letter from her just after the war was over. That is, Emery, the reason why you are here." Emery felt Ava's gaze from beside her. Emery glanced over to her. It was like she could read her mind. It was a look of _Do you really believe that son of a…?_ And Emery shrugged her shoulders. Gandalf watched as the two exchanged glances. He smiled. "Perhaps it is a good thing your best friend is here also after all."

The next breakfast with Arwen, the girls talked less than they normally did. Arwen knew something was up, but didn't know if she should mingle with their problems.

Are you okay, if I may ask," she asked and leaned a bit forward, "you seem troubled."

Emery sighed. "Yes," she said, "No, actually not really, but it'll be fine." She couldn't tell everything, it'd be confusing.

"Do you know this…" Ava debated her words in her mind, "…Gandalf?"

Arwen laughed. "Yes, I do," she answered, "he is a very dear friend of Aragorn and me. Why? Oh, has he been speaking in riddles again?" Emery half-smiled. "Something like that, yeah."

"If it will make you feel better," Arwen said with a reassuring smile, "Gandalf is completely trustworthy."

This made Emery change her mind a little. The morning after the conversation with Queen Arwen, she would meet the White Wizard. And so it went on the next weeks, almost every day, to hear more stories about Middle Earth. Every once in a while Ava would be there too, but she was easily bored of the stories. Emery first didn't understand that, but she figured Ava probably didn't like Gandalf.

Emery now knew a lot about the War of the Ring: from when the ring was made to when it was destroyed. Eventually, Gandalf came up with an alternate background story for Emery and Ava. What he told about her parents was true, just the part about the reef would be left out. She met Ava in the village in Gondor where she grew up, and soon became best friends. The reason for Emery's and Ava's memory loss was because of dehydration combined with a poisoned fruit.

Gandalf was convincing. The royal pair looked each of the three in their eyes, then into each other's. They believed them. A sigh of relieve escaped Emery's mouth. "So," King Aragorn spoke, "you wish to find your mother, Lady Emery?" Emery nodded shyly. "Yes, King Aragorn, indeed. I don't remember anything about her, but Gandalf said he would lead me- us," she looked at Ava, "to Lórien." Arwen gave her a reassuring smile. It was like she wanted her to go, because she deserved it. "Very well", her husband said with a firm nod.

When will your departure be?", Arwen asked to Gandalf.

"In four weeks, for Emery and Ava have never ridden a horse before", he answered with a chuckle.

Arwen and Aragorn frowned, but not in suspicion. They were amused by that thought. How could you not ride a horse here in Middle Earth, since it was- besides going by foot, the only way of transport over land? But the ladies were rather young, even Emery, who was an Elf, so it was 'forgiven'.

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 _I truly hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please **review.**_

 _A simple 'thanks, I enjoyed it' is enough :)_

 _-xoxo-_


	6. Art of Archery

**CHAPTER VI – Art of Archery**

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings: this is simply my imagination :)**_

 _Enjoy this new chapter!_

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Whenever Emery was walking down the streets of Minas Tirith, she would always let her hair fall down over her ears, covering them. If she wouldn't, she'd get weird glances, because why in the name of the Valar- she had learned that those were the Gods in this world, would an Elleth live among the Race of Men? But, even though Emery felt like she had to hide her true identity, she and her best friend felt that they have become more at ease living here.

Emery had finally accepted her past: she was a Peredhil, a half-Elf, and her long lost mother was still alive. Only two weeks were left and then she would find her. Ava had agreed to go with her and Gandalf, but at first she hesitated. She finally felt more at ease living here, so the decision moving onto somewhere else was hard for her. But Emery was Ava's best friend, here her only friend, and she wanted to be there for her: Emery needed her.

The White Wizard walked quietly along the courtyard, waiting for Aragorn and his wife to arrive. The had requested to meet him there, because he had a plan.

He turned around when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. "Good morning", he greeted and nodded. The royal pair greeted back. "I presume you have formed a plan, Aragorn?", the wizard asked. Aragorn looked at Arwen, with a grateful smile. "Actually," he started, "Arwen had come up with the idea." Gandalf looked at her in surprise, yet he already knew what to expect. Arwen nodded and half-smiled, but let Aragorn speak.

"The proposal is," he said determined, "to reunite the Fellowship."

Seven days later, every member of the Fellowship, minus one but also plus one, received a letter. In this letter was only stated that there were to be a new mission, and if agreed to participate, the member must arrive on the tenth day after the transmission date.

Because of this plan, Emery's own quest, the search for her mother, was delayed. It made her sad, but she understood the urgency since Gandalf had explained earlier that not all Orcs were wiped out after Sauron's defeat. And time was not a friend during war. It was a secret mission, and Emery didn't know about the reunion of the Fellowship.

A day after the letter was sent, Emery found herself on the same level as many armories. She worked less than she did before, because it wasn't as necessary as it was. This morning she was free, so she wanted to take a walk. She hid behind two flower pots as she heard men approaching, talking in deep and low voices. She heard the two men saying they were the last to leave the armory, so by now, no one would be there. When they were out of sight, she was overrun by curiosity and decided to sneak in and check it out.

It was exactly what she had expected: loads of blades and swords, spears, bows and arrows covering an entire wall. The sight of these weapons were mesmerizing. They were all so clean and shiny, so fresh, waiting to be used again to slaughter Orcs. It remembered her that she too could fight, even though she didn't need a weapon for it, her own body was one.

But still she was fascinated by the amount of weapons. She slowly walked over to the swords and carefully traced her fingers along the sharp edge. Then, a beautiful engraved bow caught her eyes. She walked towards the set of bow and arrows, reaching her arm out to touch the brown leather quiver, when she suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice.

"Lady Emery"

She turned around to see King Aragorn in the doorway of the armory. A slight look of horror crossed her face as she jerked away from the archery wall. Aragorn was actually quite amused to see a maiden so interested in and hypnotized by weapons of her opposite sex.

"King Aragorn," she gasped embarrassed, "What are you doing here- I mean, uhm, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be here." She bowed her head respect and embarrassment, knowing that she did _and_ said something wrong. "I am the King," Aragorn said with an amusing smile on his face, "I do not think I have to explain myself." She could hit herself. Emery watched him walk inside the big chamber filled with weapons. He took a sword and looked at it. She could see his pride and determination swelling up across his face, and she imagined how the battles were during the War of the Ring. She couldn't. Emery couldn't imagine how many blood was spilled and how many lives were lost. Men, women, children.

"Would you like to learn?"

That question abruptly interrupted Emery's thoughts. "What?"

"You are leaving Minas Tirith in a short time, even though its delay. The journey to Lórien will bring danger," he took a deep breath before he continued, "you will have to know how to protect yourself. Now, would you like to learn?"

"Good luck, Em!", Ava called as she walked out the door of the armory. Emery noticed Ava's mood had lightened up after she told her that they would learn how to fight. It had secretly always been their dream to learn the art of sword fighting or archery, and now they would. The girls finally knew well how to ride a horse, and now it was time to learn another skill. Ava had almost fully recovered from her broken arm, so it wasn't hard for her anymore. She had chosen sword fighting. For Emery, that skill was archery. She grabbed the bow and the quiver and walked outside with her instructor.

The first day she had spent training her grip on the bow, and her back arm. The next three days Emery practiced her aim, and from then on she would keep shooting, no matter how tiring. Her instructor, Florién, had seen progress the past days. It was not much, because they've only practiced for a few days.

Today was the first time Emery decided to stop covering her ears. Many people stared at her as she had made her way to the armory. Florién was quite shocked as well when first laid his eyes on them.

"Forgive me, I did not know you were an Elf, Lady Emery", he said when they walked to the training course. Emery looked at him sideways and half-smiled. "Half-Elf, actually, but yeah, I kinda covered it every day," she turned her head back again firmly, "but I have accepted it. And the rest will have to accept me too." Florién didn't really know what she meant with _I have accepted it_ , but nodded anyway. They arrived at the training course and she prepared her gear. _Let's do this shit_.

That day was the tenth day after the transmission date, and King Aragorn was pacing up and down the courtyard. Even though his friendship with each Fellowship member was undeniable, he was afraid only few of them, or even none of them would turn up. Since the plan was still in the making, Aragorn had explicitly asked the members to come alone; they had to agree first after all.

Tired of waiting, the royal couple decided to take a walk, down the lower levels. It was a good idea, now they would be at the gate earlier if a member arrived. They were enjoying the sun when they heard Florién calmly and patiently instructing Emery. Arwen was curious, so walked towards the training course, followed by her husband.

"Now remember," Florién said as he stood from a distance, "stand straight up and lift your right elbow." Emery followed his instructions, tried the best she could and let go of the arrow. She looked at the target but didn't see it. Emery grunted. "I'm sorry…" she said. She had been practicing for more than half an hour now, and only once she'd hit the target. Florién shook his head. "Do not be, my Lady," he said and smiled, "I fear today is just not your day." Emery smiled thankfully at him and took the last arrow out of the quiver.

"King Aragorn, Queen Arwen", she heard Florién say and turned around to see the royal couple watching her struggle with archery. She greeted them somewhat insecure. "I am better at this, normally. I promise", she followed and smiled awkwardly.

Emery turned back around, determined to shoot the last arrow on at least the target. She used every instruction her teacher had taught her and focused on the target. She knew archery took a lot of focus, and she was honest to say she underestimated the sport. She breathed out slowly, trying not to shake her arms. She let the arrow fly away, looked up and lowered her bow. A genuine smile formed on her face and turned around to her instructor, whose lip corners turned up into a smirk.

"Now, that," he said and walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "is the art of archery, Lady Emery." It was the first time she had shot the arrow close to the inner circle, the rose of the target. He smiled proudly at her and stepped back. Emery turned to the royal couple, only to see they were already gone. "The King and Queen had to leave," Florién said when he saw her looking for them, "their guests have arrived."

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 _Thanks for reading!_

 _-xoxo-_


	7. The Reunion of the Fellowship

**CHAPTER VII – The Reunion of the Fellowship**

 _Hi! New chapter :) Hope you like it!_

 _Oh, and thanks so much for the first reviews! It really motivates me to keep on writing :)))_

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"Gimli, Legolas," Aragorn greeted happily when he saw them, "my friends." It had been approximately four months since he'd last seen them, which was far too long. Gimli walked over to Aragorn and patted him on the shoulder. "Hello lad", he said with a pleasant smile on his face. He walked further as he spoke his remarkable words: "Well, who can help me out with a decent meal?!" Aragorn laughed and ordered some servants to bring Gimli to the Citadel by horse, the walk would be far too long and heavy for the Dwarf's short legs.

He turned to the Elf in front of him, who had a smirk across his face. "Legolas," Aragorn said as he gave him a friendly hug, "it has been far too long, _mellon_." The Elf walked over to Aragorn's wife. "Queen Arwen," he said, giving a kiss on the knuckles of her hand. Arwen chuckled. "Oh please, Legolas," she said, "you are a friend, do not be so formal. Please, just call me Arwen."

"If you want to, we could ride to the Citadel", Aragorn said. Legolas waved him off. "No, but thank you. It has been a long time since I have seen this city in such good hands", he said genuinely and took a moment to breathe in the air of the White City. The Elf could sense that the city was about to be a great one again, and all because it finally had a king. As they walked to the Citadel, the three talked about what they had done the past few months. Legolas had gone to his father in Mirkwood, he was glad he could see him again and to be home. "I am sorry to disturb you from being home," Aragorn said painfully. "But you also may have noticed that we are still far from peace in Middle Earth", he paused and looked at the Elf, "tomorrow, we will all meet in the Council. We will discuss the problem, and a way to solve it." Legolas nodded firmly. He had fought off some spiders and Orcs too back in Mirkwood, but still the evil had remained it the woods. He also understood today would be a rest day. "I will see you at dinner _mellon_ ", he answered and smiled.

Emery turned around and looked at Florién. "I know practice is over," she said, "but I wanna shoot some more. You don't have to stay." The teacher nodded. "Very well. Good luck, Lady Emery", he said, sent her a smile and walked away. Emery grabbed the bow. She remembered when she could pick between sword fighting and archery: she chose archery right away. The sight of the beautifully engraved bow was just too appealing. She had learned a lot these past ten days, she was a quick learner, even Florién said so. She lay the arrow on the string and pulled it taut. Again, she went through all the tips her instructor had given. She focused on the shooting board, which was placed one meter further than before. She let loose of the string and looked where the arrow landed. It was on one of the outer circles of the target.

"Shit", she said aloud and lowered the bow. She definitely needed more time to practice her aim.

"That is no language for a woman"

She startled for a brief moment and turned around. She met the eyes of a man. An Elf actually. He had long blond hair, to top layers pulled back and he wore a silver tunic. His lips curled up into a friendly smile. Emery blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked down at her feet. The Elf widened his eyes for one second at the sight of her pointy ears.

"Certainly not for an Elf", he stated, " _Goheno nin, híril nín._ "

" _Ú-moe edaved, hîr nín_."

Emery covered her mouth with her hands. Did she just say that? How could she understand him? She had never even heard of the language. The blonde Elf's smile faded and he frowned. He was just about to speak when she interrupted him.

"Sorry," she said hastily, "I must go. Bye!"

Before he could say anything, she grabbed her bow and the quiver, forgetting the arrows that were still on the training course. The Elf was surprised to see her change from elegant to… strange so abruptly. The she-Elf left without looking at him, walking fast.

"I don't understand", Emery said, confused, "I mean- I don't understand how I could've understood him, and I really don't understand that I said something back in that same weird language." She walked around the room, talking quickly, which was hard for Ava to follow. She shook her head. "Wait, wait," she said and stood up, "was he hot?" Emery laughed. Ava had always been like this, and no matter the circumstances, she would stay like this. "Yes, he was," Emery answered, "but that is not the point. It's just so weird, I have never spoken it before. Should I tell Gandalf?"

"What did he say?"

"He said ' _Goheno nin, híril nín'_ , which means: forgive me, my Lady. And I answered with ' _Ú-moe edaved, hîr nín_ ', which means something like: there's nothing to forgive, my Lord," she took a deep breath, "I have no idea how I know this."

Ava sighed. "Wow," she said and sat down, "that language sounds so romantic…" Emery frowned, "…and, uhm, like a very complicated language", she corrected herself and laughed. So did her best friend. "You will never change, Lady Ava", Emery said with a delicate voice. "Nor will you, _híril nín_ ," Ava tried to say in the weird language, which caused them to burst out in laughing even more.

"So," Gimli said and looked across the room, "what's the problem, Aragorn?" The room was filled with seven people including himself, less than before. Two faces from the former Fellowship were not here, but one had replaced them. It was Faramir, who had replaced his fallen brother Boromir. The Hobbit Sam, had declined the request, because his wife Rosie was pregnant of their first child, and he didn't want to leave her. Frodo, had taken off to Valinor with his uncle. The only Hobbits were Merry and Pippin, who had proven themselves to be great warriors. That, besides the fact that they were _original_ Fellowship members, was the reason Aragorn also sent a letter to them.

"You might have heard about several Orc attacks lately," the King spoke, "it has become much of both mine and Gandalf's concern. We fear another leader has stepped up, which means Middle Earth is not yet released from evil."

The words that were spoken had a great impact on the men. "So what do we do, Aragorn?" Faramir asked, "we know little about who this leader may be." The King nodded. "That is why I asked each of you to meet me here in Minas Tirith," he paused. "I call for a reunion of the Fellowship, and a new quest."

The room fell silent.

Aragorn looked each man in the eyes, but he could not read them. Were they afraid? Didn't they agree with him? Or did they simply not want to leave their home for so long, again? "You must understand," Gandalf said and stood by Aragorn, "that this has happened before. When the Orcs followed Sauron, as he returned. It shows us history is repeating itself. We might not know this new enemy here, but if we find their hide outs, we could be a step ahead."

"Aragorn, my friend," Legolas finally spoke, "I would follow you, for you are the greatest King of Men I know. But how about your people? You cannot just leave the White City without a ruler." Aragorn turned to him and smiled. "I would not just let you have the fun, Legolas," he said determined, "my wife shall rule the city during the travel." Legolas nodded. He could see Arwen as a great ruler, and he knew she could do it if Aragorn also thought so.

"Then you have my bow", Legolas repeated his own words he spoke during the first council.

"And my axe", Gimli said, but now he didn't receive an ugly face from the Elf next to him.

And so Faramir and the two Hobbits joined in: the Fellowship was reunited. With a new mission, and a new destination.

"Then it shall be," Gandalf said proudly, "the Fellowship is on a mission once more. First, we go to Edoras, perhaps King Éomer knows something." He looked around, seeing everyone with a new determination across their face.

"Oh," the wizard almost forgot, "there will be two maidens be riding with us until Lothlórien. A young maiden and a she-Elf."

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 _Hope you enjoyed it!_

 _-xoxo-_


	8. Going, Going, Gone

**CHAPTER VIII – Going, Going, Gone**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lord of the Rings, to my great sorrow ;)**_

 _Enjoy this very new chapter, Emery and Ava are finally leaving Minas Tirith, but not without company..._

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Two weeks later, the girls were saddling their horses, ready to leave the White City. The weeks had been boring: the lessons were canceled because there were new visitors. There was simply no time for Emery and Ava. Three days earlier, Gandalf approached them with the sudden news that they'd leave today, and that they'd first go to a city in an area called Rohan. They would also be traveling with company, but who those people were, Emery and Ava didn't know.

"I can't believe we're leaving this place," Ava said a little sad, "just when we started adjusting to things here." Emery put her hand on her shoulder. "At least we're together", she said. Ava sent her a half-smile. Emery was more than glad Ava was here, she'd never been able to do this alone. She was in another world, but with her best friend on her side. "Whoever we're traveling with, though," she said as she looked around her, seeing a man standing at a horse. Her eyes widened when she saw two children saddling a pony. They were talking and laughing loudly. "With children?" she whispered confused and frowned, "are we traveling with a family or something?" Emery laughed. It's that she'd seen it in a book in the bookstore, otherwise she would've thought the same. "They aren't children," Emery explained quietly, "they're called Hobbits, I read about them in that bookstore. They're really small, about 75 centimeters smaller than the average human." Ava tilted her head a bit, curious. "Wow," she said, "that's really small."

Then, another men approached. "Is that also a Hobbit?", Ava asked and pointed her finger, making sure no one noticed. The man was also small, but wore heavy armor and… an axe? "I think that's a Dwarf or something, but I'm not sure", Emery said as she looked at the small man. He was a bit crummy, but looked pretty dangerous.

Emery turned back around to her horse. Arwen had said his name was Amir, and Emery liked it. She smiled. The day had finally arrived: Emery was this close to finding her mother.

Aragorn looked back as he rode out the gate. His wife smiled and waved. It was painful to leave Arwen's side, after finding her back again. But he had to, Middle Earth was once more in danger and he and his companions had to do this. He trusted Arwen with the city, she'd do more than well.

He rode in front with Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli on one horse right behind him, then Faramir and the Hobbits, followed by the girls nobody knew except for the King and the wizard. Emery and Ava felt uncomfortable, they were the only girls and they had no idea where they were going. It was a good thing they were able to control the horses, but their butts were hurting as hell.

"Do you know where were going, Em?", Ava asked softly.

"All I know is that we are going to a city called Edoras," Emery said and shrugged her shoulders, "but I have no idea where that is." Ava focused on the long way before her. They had no idea how to get there, and the thought of losing Gandalf and King Aragorn frightened her. "How long is the ride anyway?" she asked, but already knew Emery didn't know either.

"Edoras is the capital of Rohan," they suddenly heard from the man in front of them, "and the journey will be three days."

"Uhm, thanks," Emery said, but the man didn't bother to turn his head. Emery turned to Ava and lowered her voice, "three days?!" Ava took a deep breath. This will be a long journey.

Aragorn lifted his hand and stopped, just as everyone else behind him. Well, Emery and Ava almost crashed into the ponies in front of them. The men all looked around and glared at them. Emery caught the gaze of the blonde Elf she'd seen before, on the training grounds back in the city. "Sorry", she murmured embarrassed.

"It will be getting dark soon," he said as he turned his horse around to face the rest, "we will be setting up camp here." It was another thing the girls could check off of their bucketlist: sleeping beneath the stars. The men created a fire and the little ones started cooking. The girls felt useless, but there was nothing for them to do, even if they asked so. They sat down, close to the fire to warm up, and just stared in the distance.

"Do you want some?"

Emery startled, interrupted from her own thoughts. She looked up to see a Hobbit standing next to her, holding a bowl of soup. It was the first time she could study them, she already knew they had ginger-like hair and curls, but she was still quite surprised by their height. He repeated the question and she came back to the real world.

"Sorry," she said, "yeah, thanks."

The Hobbit gave it to her and sat down next to her. "My name is Pippin", he said with a weird accent. It sounded Scottish, even though that didn't exist here in Middle Earth. She smiled. "I'm Emery", she said and offered him her hand. Pippin frowned and looked at it. Emery chuckled. "You don't shake hands where you come from?", she said surprised. The Hobbit laughed, and shook her hands, but a little awkward. "Then where are you from, if I may ask?", he asked after the weird gesture. Behind the Hobbit, Emery caught the look of Gandalf, silently telling her to be careful. "I'm, uhm, from a village in Gondor. I grew up there, even though I'm an… Elleth… Anyways, it wasn't- I mean isn't that big. The hand shaking is… it's something I found out with my friend! Ava, here next to me", she said, proud of the way she took care of it.

Ava raised an eyebrow, but also shook her hands with the Hobbit. He grinned. "Well," he said, "it is a very nice gesture." Then he stood up in all the sudden and walked to the other Hobbit.

"Look Merry", he said and offered his hand. The other Hobbit didn't seem to understand and frowned at the hand. Then Pippin grabbed his hand and forced to shake it with his own.

Emery and Ava laughed at the sight of the two Hobbits. They didn't understand why it was so strange for them. Emery sought Gandalf's face, but he was talking to the Elf and Aragorn. The man who rode in front of them, was eating with the Dwarf. The two Hobbits soon joined the girls again. The second one introduced himself as Merry and shook their hands with a grin on his face. Ava thought they were brothers, but Merry and Pippin laughed at the thought of it. Apparently they were friends, even though they looked a lot like each other. Soon, the other man came over and introduced himself as Faramir. The five of them talked for a while, asking the girls what brought them to Lórien. Emery told them about the search for her mother, but didn't tell them the details.

Eventually, Emery's eyes we're getting heavy and she excused herself. Ava stayed, she was enjoying the company and jokes the Hobbits were making. Emery looked for a place to sleep, but her surroundings were completely dark, she couldn't see anything. She knew that they were close to the mountains, they had to follow them to reach Edoras.

She lay down, felt the hardness of the ground beneath her and knew it was going to be a long night. It felt like she was tossing and turning for hours. Here and then she got caught up in a world between being awake and asleep. She had lost track of time; unlike the others she couldn't guess out of the stars when the sun would rise. It could be midnight, it could be 03.00 AM, or it could be only minutes from dawn. Having enough of the hard ground, she sat straight up and looked around. A few feet away, she saw Faramir sitting against a rock. The fact that she could see the rock should mean it would be day soon, right? Faramir looked the opposite way from her, he was probably on watch, but she didn't know whether it was the first or the last.

Quietly, not trying to raise attention or wake the others up, Emery stood up and walked away from Faramir. She walked in the dark, and suddenly she felt the ground beneath her going up-hill. When she felt the ground flattening again, she stopped walking and gazed towards the mountains in the dark. The only source of light was the moon with the stars. She just stood there, thinking about home.

She closed her eyes, pretending to be in her living room again. In her mind, her mother called that dinner was ready. _Finally._ She turned off the television and walked towards the dining room. Her father and brother were already sitting at the table. Mom put the saucepan down and sat down as well. Emery smiled and settled down beside her. They talked about anything. Her brother whined about the fact that Emery had been singing the whole day, dad talked about how busy work was and so did mom. It was a typical evening, and Emery missed these typical evenings. Her mind wandered from the dining room to her bedroom. Her walls were painted in a soft brown color, giving it a rustic vibe. Just the sight of her bed made her comfortable: the many pillows, the plaid over the duvet, and even her stuffed animal she had kept since her birth. She would do anything to just lie down on that bed again, but she also wanted to find her mother. Her _real_ mother.

Emery opened her eyes again. She felt her eyes watering, but blinked the tears away. She was _not_ going to cry again. She noticed the mountains were clearer to see and looked behind her. She could see that the hill where she was standing was actually quite high, she hadn't noticed before. Luckily, she hadn't trailed off too much, she could still see the others sleeping. To her surprise, Faramir wasn't on watch anymore. The Elf was standing on a rock, cautiously looking around. She watched him curiously; she hadn't seen an Elf before. It was quite weird to see a man with such long hair. He had a firm posture, always standing straight up. He was tall, and most tall boys back home were slender and always had the tendency to walk gangling. Emery herself was tall too, about six feet tall. Still, she always forced herself to walk upright. _Better slay it than fail it_ , Ava always said. She shifted and sighed, which apparently caught the Elf's attention. He turned around. How could he hear her? Did Elves have the ability to hear better than men? Even though it was still fairly dark, she could easily see his bright blue eyes. For a moment they just looked at each other, but Emery turned away, feeling awkward.

She took a deep breath, and noticed the sky was shifting from almost black to blue. Then, in the distance, the first rays of sun appeared behind the distant mountains. Sunrise. It was always such a beautiful sight. Slowly, the sun rose. Emery held her breath. Without the light of street lanterns and buildings, dawn was even more spectacular. Red and orange colored the sky and she was already looking forward to the moment the sun would set.

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 _Thanks for reading! If you like the story, **please** **review!** It really brightens my day to know you ACTUALLY enjoy it :)_


	9. Monsters

**CHAPTER IX – Monsters**

 ** _DISCLAIMER:_ _I don't own LOTR, this is simply my imagination :)_**

 _ **AndurilofTolkien:** thanks so much for the reviews! It's really nice to hear you enjoy the story! Xx_

 **AmiliaKnisely:** _YES I WILL! Thanks for your enthusiasm :)_

 _Yesterday I saw the story is placed in a community! Thank you for that too!_

 _Now, enjoy this chapter, I hope you guys like this one too!_

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"Did you tell Gandalf?"

Emery looked at Ava, who was on the horse beside her, and shook her head. She was talking about the language-thing.

"No," she said, "I haven't had the chance yet. I actually wanted to tell him tonight, but I'm not sure."

It was the second day of the journey and the girls were already exhausted. They already left the river behind, and they were following the White Mountains.

They had finally slowed down their gallops, and the horses were loping. The group didn't have its usual formation anymore. "Where are we?", Emery asked her fellow companions in front of her. Faramir slightly turned his head. "We are nearing the Mering Stream, the border between Gondor and Rohan." Emery wondered what _nearing_ actually meant. It was still very far, they'd probably reach it tomorrow. She looked around her. On her left side, there was a forest, and behind it the foot of the mountains. It was a magnificent view.

She didn't know the blonde Elf was watching her curiously. The way she looked at the environment; it was like she had never seen mountains before. He saw how she looked at the picturesque mountain peaks and how she then focused on the forest's edge. Even a normal forest seemed to amaze her.

"Ey lad," the Dwarf in front of him said, "you shouldn't be spying like that on a girl."

Legolas chuckled. "Do you know who she is?", he asked as he took one more look. She was now petting her horse's back. Gimli shook his head.

"All I know is her name."

"And what might that be?"

"Emery"

The night rolled in peacefully. Emery and Ava were sitting by the fire, warming up. The rest sat in on the other side of the fire, talking quietly. Emery though, was less talkative than she normally was. The light of the fire hurt her eyes, like it was over-exposed. She covered her eyes when she heard King Aragorn.

"Emery, are you feeling well?", he asked. Emery didn't move her hands from her eyes, it would hurt too much. She nodded, but Aragorn could clearly see she wasn't. "The, uhm," she started, "the light of the fire is just a bit bright that's all."

She felt Ava's hand on her back. "Come, we'll go sit over there", she said and helped her stand up. As they moved further away from the fire, Emery uncovered her eyes and opened them. She looked around, and it felt like she saw sharper and so much clearer than before. It was like she had been blind for so long and finally could see again.

"Wow," Ava suddenly said and Emery turned to her best friend. She frowned, not knowing what was wrong. "Your eyes, Em", she followed and she gazed into Emery's eyes.

Emery jerked away with her head in alarm. "What?", she asked, "what's wrong?"

Ava frowned and got closer again to study her green eyes. "They're… they're so clear, so shiny. I don't know how to explain. Your eyes are so… bright", she said as she continued studying Emery's eyes. All Emery wanted was a mirror. Anything that could show her reflection. "It must be the moonlight or something," she murmured. Ava moved her head away and stared to the moon.

"Yeah, could be."

Then, Emery heard something. It was a soft crack in the distance. She immediately stood up and looked around her. "Em?", Ava asked as she slowly stood up with questioning eyes, "what's up?" Emery ignored the question, focusing on the former sound. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had heard it. The blonde Elf heard it too and walked over to Emery.

"Did you hear that too?", he asked with a concern look across his face.

Emery nodded.

 _Crisp!_

"Now I definitely heard that," she said quietly, the others still confused as they heard nothing, "it's coming from the forest."

Then, everything went fast.

Out of the forest they were camping nearby, ran numerous _creatures_ towards the group. "Orcs!", she heard someone scream. The blonde Elf wasn't on Emery's side anymore; she found him running up-hill, already shooting several Orcs dead. King Aragorn and Faramir pulled out their swords and ran towards the monstrous creatures, in just a second they'd each already killed five Orcs.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed before her eyes, and when she was able to see again, she saw Gandalf with his walking stick (well, apparently it was also a giant magic wand) spreading bright light across the dark fields. To her surprise, Emery spotted that even Merry and Pippin killed some Orcs with their daggers.

Emery stood there: frightened, disorientated, confused. She turned around, only to see three Orcs in the distance coming towards her. They were walking slowly, grinning like they wanted to play with their prey. Emery froze. For a second she couldn't move, her brain was on fire. She took a few steps back, then fully turned around and ran away. She could hear the three monsters follow her, running after her. The grass beneath her was high, which made it hard for her to have control over her steps. Besides, she was wearing a long dress. _Don't look behind you_ , she thought, _don't look behind you!_

But she did. They were closer now. She didn't even know where she was, until she spotted her packs and her bow. _Bow!_ Her bow and quiver lay on the left side of her, against a rock. She took a sudden turn, hoping to shake them off for a moment. In one movement, she ducked to grab her arrow and quiver. She took an arrow and put it on the string, pulling it taut. But her hands were shaking, she couldn't focus. The Orcs pulled out their swords but slowed down. Why would they give her a chance? Did they think that she'd miss? _Breathe, Emery, breathe_. She closed one eye, took a deep breath and released the arrow. It hit the left Orc's shoulder.

Screaming out in pain he dropped his sword and fell down to the ground. He wasn't dead yet, but he was most certainly out. Emery grinned as she felt a rush of adrenaline go through her body. The other two now walked faster, anger growing across their face. Emery's grin faded quickly and pulled out another arrow, aiming for the neck of the right one. She let go of the string, and the arrow pierced through his chest. Her aim was getting better, but that was…

…because they were much closer now!

The last Orc stopped for a moment to look at his fellows, both taken down by a girl. Then he turned his head towards her and sprinted. Emery gasped, it was too late to shoot another arrow, so she turned around to run away, but tripped over her dress. She fell down to the ground, eye in eye with a death Orc. She screamed and wanted to stand up, but she couldn't. It was like her brain couldn't send a sign to her muscles to move. She felt completely paralyzed.

There she was, on top of a death Orc, with another Orc behind her who wanted to kill her. Even though it was just a few seconds, it felt like an eternity before she could finally move. But it was already too late. The Orc stood in front of her when she stood up, holding one of her own arrows in his hand.

"You thought a girl could just kill me?", he said with a creepy voice. Emery was shaking as she took several steps back, but the monster just walked closer to her. He grinned, his pointy black teeth visible.

"It will be a pretty death," he continued, "with your own arrow."

Emery didn't know why she didn't run away when he said that. Was she ready to die? To die in a world that wasn't her own? No. She closed her eyes, frightened to see how he'd kill her.

Nothing happened.

She opened her eyes, but she didn't see the Orc in front of her anymore. Instead, the monster was lying down on the ground, with an arrow pierced through his neck. She looked up, seeing the blonde Elf lowering his bow on the hill. It took a few moments to form the words 'thank you'.

It was still dark when the attack was over. Emery looked like a mess: her hair was fluffy and all over her face, her dress was dirty and it had holes in it. That was why Aragorn immediately noticed her and came over to her.

"Are you all right?", he asked concerned. What did he expect? Three Orcs had tried to kill her, she fell down on one when she tripped over her stupid dress and if it wasn't for the Elf, she'd be dead by now. Still, she nodded. "Though I do think I'll have to wear something else than this annoying dress", she followed. Aragorn laughed, surprised she took it so lightly. Then, her eyes widened.

"Where is Ava?", she said, raising her voice. When nobody answered, she asked it again, looking around her, almost shouting now. She ran across the fields, but it was near the forest's edge when she heard heavy breathing. Emery turned around, trying to focus on the sound.

"Emery", she heard closely. She ran towards the sound, finding her best friend sitting against a tree. "Ava", she whispered, relieved she'd found her. But Emery's relieved look disappeared as soon as she saw Ava was covered in black _and_ red blood. "Ava, you're hurt!", she said with horror across her face when she saw that Ava was covering her right arm with her hand.

"I- I don't know what's happening. Look", Ava said as she slowly and carefully removed her hand from the wound on her upper-arm. It was a deep cut, but it didn't look normal; her veins had were very clear to see- in fact, they had turned black. Emery gasped at the sight of it and looked at Ava. She was crying in silence.

"Guys," Emery shouted, "Over here! Please, help her!"

In just a few seconds they were all standing around them. Aragorn squatted beside them, studying the wound. "It is poisoned", he said in sorrow. "What?", Ava said, her voice breaking. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaws when a rush of pain went through her body. "I'm so sorry," Emery cried, "I should've been there with you." Emery couldn't believe it. She was NOT going to let her best friend die.

"She needs a healer," the blonde Elf said, "we need to bring her as fast as possible to Lórien." G

andalf stepped forward. "She shall ride with me," he announced, "With the Valar on our side we will be there by the day after tomorrow."

Emery stood up. "I'm going with you", she said, but the wizard shook his head.

"She is my best friend," she argued and cried, "I won't ever leave her side!"

"You will slow them down," Aragorn said as he stood up, "and too many people will draw attention. It is best if you stay with us." And even though Emery and Ava cried at the thought of being parted, they did. They had to. Ava was placed on Shadowfax in front of Gandalf. With a toss of the reins, they hurried away from the battlefield.

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 _Sorry, I had to..._

 _Soooo this Saturday I'm going to Indonesia! I can't bring my laptop, so I'm afraid I can't update that much. Maybe I'll just try using my phone. But I'll keep writing, old school with a pen in my hand :) But for now and tomorrow AND the day after, I'll update._

 _-xoxo-_


	10. Edoras

**CHAPTER X – Edoras**

 _Another chapter!_

 _Enjoy :))_

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They didn't stay there after the attack. Aragorn said they couldn't follow them to Lórien, it'd be no use. The company would pursue their way to Edoras, to Emery's great sorrow. It was almost noon when they finally slowed down; they'd been riding in gallop the whole morning. Because of that, Emery was forced to focus instead of crying. It distracted her. But now that they slowed down, her mind immediately began to wander to the fight and Ava. Could she survive for two whole days with that wound? Gandalf was a wizard, why couldn't _he_ heal her?

The formation was again broken, and Emery had slightly fallen behind. She looked at the group in front of her. It was like they didn't even know she existed. Faramir was talking with the Hobbits, and the blonde Elf was talking with the dwarf in front of him. Should she go over to him? He saved her after all. She took a deep breath and rode over to them. The Elf looked at her, surprised, when she appeared next to them. For a second she didn't know what to say and bit her lip.

"Hey," she said awkwardly, "uhm… I just wanted to- I wanted to say thank you. For what you did back there."

She waited for his response but he just blinked at her. She couldn't read his face, and the silence made her nervous.

"Well," she continued nervously and looked down at the horse's neck, "that's what I… wanted to say. I'll go, uhm bye."

The Dwarf poked in the Elf's stomach with his elbow. "No stay," the Elf suddenly said, but seemed caught off guard by what he just said himself. "I am deeply sorry for your friend."

Emery looked at the Elf, sadness was growing on her face again. "Yeah, me too", she said, "she was- _is_ my best friend." She wasn't dead. _Yet._

It was then when she realized she didn't know the Elf's and the Dwarf's name. "I'm Emery", she said, hoping they would introduce their selves to. But the Elf only nodded. "You're not going to introduce yourself?", she asked and raised an eyebrow. The Elf and the Dwarf both looked surprised.

"You do not know who I am?", the Elf asked and frowned.

Emery studied the Elf cautiously and chuckled. "What, are you famous or something?", she said as she shrugged.

The Dwarf grinned and looked up at the Elf. Certainly she had no idea who she was talking to. "Lass, have you been living under a rock?", he asked as he laughed. Emery was confused. Why didn't they just tell her who they were?

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf, my Lady," the Elf finally said, not saying anything more. Emery frowned, still having no idea what was so special about the Elf.

"Well, you should add that you're the Prince of Mirkwood, lad!", the Dwarf said. Emery widened her eyes and froze. "A prince?", she repeated. Wow, she definitely didn't see that coming. She was talking to a freaking prince. Not knowing what to say, she gazed into the distance. If she had known he was a prince, she definitely wouldn't have approached him. She was embarrassed that she didn't know him, but on the other hand, would he know who the president of the United States was? No. _Which is kinda for the better_.

Still, she said nothing. What would you say to a prince? _Do you perhaps know Cinderella?_ She shook her head. _Ugh, get yourself together,_ she thought, _you're not even funny_.

When Aragorn announced they'd soon speed up again, Emery grabbed her hair tie off her wrist. She'd kept it since she woke up in the Pelennor Fields, determined to never lose it, because it was probably the only rubber hairband in this whole world. She threw her hair over her head and quickly made a high pony tail. She sighed contend as she felt along her hair, no strands of hair were forgotten or out of place. She always hated it if that happened.

"Why do you do that?"

She turned her head to look at Legolas, surprised by the weird question. But then she realized she'd never seen a woman here who wore her hair like this. "Uhm," she said. She couldn't just say that it was normal in her _world_. "It's something I kinda found out when I was young. Your hair doesn't get in the way, you know." Legolas looked at her- well, actually just above her, studying the high pony tail. She couldn't read his face, it was blank and emotionless. Then he just shrugged his shoulders.

After riding in gallops the whole day with just a few pauses, the city of Edoras was finally visible along the horizon. Emery narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't see it clearly. She sighed in annoyance. It was weird; one moment she could she as sharp as an eagle, and the next moment it all was normal again. What was wrong with her?

The group slowed down as they approached the valley where the capital city was built. It was built on a hill and Emery could already guess where they'd ride to: the big building on the highest hill.

"This is the capital of Rohan?", she asked to herself disappointed. She had expected more, this barely looked like a city, more like village.

"You better not show that disappointed look to Éomer", Pippin said as he rode beside her on the pony.

"Is that the mayor?"

Merry chuckled. "He's the _King_."

When they arrived at the hill, Aragorn got of his horse and walked towards the man who was now walking of the stairs. "Lord Aragorn", the man greeted and gave him a hug. "Your arrival is the best of timing." Aragorn greeted back, but with slight concern on his face. "We will talk about that later", he followed and looked at Aragorn's company.

It was all too familiar, and he sensed that they had a new mission. His eyes fell on the Elleth, the only female in the group. Aragorn noticed his gaze and explained.

"Lady Emery travels with us until Lórien, you will not mind if she stayed here, will you?" The man shook his head and studied her. "Of course not," he said and smiled, "I will have a room ready for you, my Lady." Emery nodded and half-smiled.

He was quite handsome for a blonde. Actually, every blonde here seemed to be attractive. Emery usually didn't fall for blonde boys. Not that she had a crush on Legolas and the Éomer, but she definitely found them attractive. Oh, if only Ava was here with her, they could spend hours talking about guys. A shadow of sadness fell over her face. She worried about her, every hour, every minute and every second. She wondered if she and Gandalf were almost there. She wondered if she was even alive. "Just hold on, Ava", she whispered to herself.

"This is your room, my Lady."

The servant opened the door and led her inside, closing the door behind her. She took a moment to look around. It was a simple bedroom, with another door which probably led to the bathroom. She plumped down onto the bed, testing the softness of the matrass. Finally, she had some alone time. However, Emery wasn't capable of resting, her mind being tormented by thoughts and questions. She was in Rohan, the homeland of her real father. Yet, she didn't know his name. She didn't know anything about him; there were hundreds of Rohirrim men that had been killed during a war. Finding any information about that man would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It'd be useless.

Not being able to find any rest, Emery stood up and walked towards the bath tub in the bathroom. She slipped out of her dress and sank down in the water. It was cold, and a depressed voice spoke in her mind, _just like your heart._ After her bath, she looked in the closet. To her surprise, there already were a few dresses hanging in it. She didn't know if she could wear it though, it wasn't _her_ room after all. On the other hand, the King had seen her dress' state right? She sighed and looked at her dress. No, there was no way she could wear it in front of a king. _Two kings, for God's sake. AND a prince._ Emery grabbed the first dress she saw: it was a light dress, with white and green colors. She liked it, and lay it out on the bed. Even though she'd only lived here in Middle Earth for over a month, she understood the concept of _simple_. This dress was simple, though it definitely wouldn't be back home.

When she'd finally closed the back of the dress, she walked out of her room without knowing which way to go. She decided to just follow the hallway and she knew she was about to walk in the main hall when she heard the sound of loud chatter.

"If I had known you would come, Faramir, I would have let Éowyn know", she heard as she walked through the doors. The king looked up and smiled at the sight of Emery in the dress she was wearing. "That, in fact, is one of her dresses she had left behind." Emery blushed and looked down at the dress.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but my dress was so crippled and I saw those dresses hanging in the closet and, well, I don't have any other dresses since we had to pack lightly, so I thought maybe, perhaps, I could wear them so… I did…" she slowed down as she talked, then paused when she noticed the amusing smile of the men sitting at the table. "I'm rambling. Sorry…" Her apology was kind of a whisper and she looked away. No wonder; in this room were sitting two kings and a prince- all at one table. It made look like some nervous wreck, and maybe it was because of the fact that they were all incredibly handsome. Emery always found it hard to talk to the opposite sex. In high school, she only had girls as friends, idem ditto in college. In the 20 years of her existence, she only had one boyfriend, and their relation had lasted for a year. Cash had been the best boyfriend, but he went to Yale, and Emery stayed in Pensacola.

It was silent for a few seconds, but the King of Gondor saved her embarrassing downfall.

"Will you join us for dinner, Lady Emery?", Aragorn asked as he gestured to the table where loads of food was placed. Emery nodded and she walked to the table uncomfortably. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was the only girl, between Men, Hobbits, a Dwarf and an Elf.

For three days, all she had for breakfast was an apple. Now three days wasn't much, she could only imagine how the journey to Lórien would be. Gimli was the first one to grab a plate. And when the Hobbits took one as well, everyone began to eat. Emery was enjoying the pork when she felt eyes watching her eat the meat. She looked up to see Legolas diagonally across her, but he was already looking away. Normally, she didn't care if people saw her eating, but now she was incredibly self-conscious with every bite. It was annoying, all she wanted to do was eat. Not being stared at by an Elf while doing so.

Her stomach screamed for a second plate, but Emery knew better. The chatter had stopped for a brief moment as everyone was enjoying their food and wine. She cleared her throat and looked at King Éomer, sitting across her.

"My Lord," she said hesitating, not sure how to approach him, "sorry, but is there a library here?"

Éomer nodded as he took a moment to swallow the food. "Yes", he said and gave Emery the location. She thanked him, drank the last bit of her wine and excused herself. When she walked out the doors, she could hear the Dwarf saying surprised, "Did she really just drink one glass?"

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 _Thanks for reading! **Please REVIEW this story,** and make sure to follow it if you like it!_

 _-xoxo-_


	11. Blondie

**CHAPTER XI – Blondie**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lord of the Rings; I simply own Emery and Ava, and the plot :)**_

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 _ **Hi readers!**_

 _ **I'm back home again from vacation and very happy to update again! I do have something important to say, and I'd be happy if you read it.**_

 _ **This is a rewrite of 'chapter XI - Distraction', because I simply didn't like how it turned out. This vacation I read loads of fanfics, and I came to the realization of something: I rushed. The chapters I've written so far are too short. The conversations between the characters were plain and had no depth in them. I noticed while reading other stories I had to take my time, and describe more of the surroundings and facial expressions.**_

 _ **From now on, the chapters are going to be longer. Oh, and please let me know if I improved; I'd like to know your opinion about this!**_

 _ **Thanks for reading and enjoy!**_

 _ **P.S. I changed her age to 20, because it made more sense with her studies. I also changed the fact that Sam had three children, because that was a mistake. In four months you can't have three kids, lol. So Rosie is pregnant of their first :) I also wanted you to know that this is my own imagination of what happened after the coronation of Aragorn. I know Galadriël, Celeborn and Elrond went with Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf to Valinor, but I changed that. Just so that it's clear.**_

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Arriving in the library, Emery found the room wasn't that big; it was just a rectangular shaped chamber with no more than twelve bookshelves. Only once had she seen the library of the White City, Minas Tirith, and that was much bigger than this one. But even though Edoras didn't have as many books as in Minas Tirith, there had to be at least one book about certain battles in Rohan, _right?_

Yeah, she got that right. Almost _every_ book was filled with information about the many battles in the kingdom of Rohan. My, there'd been so many attacks and battles here, that Emery began to lose hope finding information about this one particular battle her father had fought in; and eventually died in.

It must've been a harsh and cruel death. She couldn't imagine the sight of a fellow soldier falling during a war. Maybe they hadn't even seen her father die; too busy surviving themselves.

Maybe they'd only found out after the battle, when they finally could look around, seeing the ground filled with lifeless bodies. Maybe they only knew he was missing, and hadn't even found the body because of the chaos around them. Maybe they'd found him heavily injured, and had watched him die surrounded by his warrior friends. Or her father had died alone, having no one beside him to ease the pain.

Book by book she paged through, not even knowing what she was looking for. It was only then when she noticed something weird: something she was surprised by that it hadn't caught her eye before. The years were strange: it seemed as if it had happened in… the future? The year 3019? Suddenly she thought about the diary. The diary she had found back home, and always carried with her. But when she had 'fallen' into this world, she apparently forgot her bag, along with the diary in it. Could this mean that the diary was from her mother? Her _real_ mother? Was the counting different here from Earth? How couldn't she have noticed before, after more than a month living here? For all she knew it could be the year 4019 now.

Then she noticed the abbreviations.

 _S.A. and T.A.?_

What did that mean? She paged further, looking for a clue or an explanation. She stopped when she noticed a date of a battle. A battle that seemed to be a very great one and that had had an impact on the War of the Ring.

 _Third Age, March 3rd & 4th, 3019_

"Battle of Helm's Deep", she whispered and scanned the pages about the massive attack for information. It had been an enormous battle, but she knew it wasn't as big as the one on the Pelennor Fields, by Minas Tirith.

It seemed the 'bad guys' almost won the battle if it weren't for a certain wizard. Her eyes widened as she read the name written in cursive. If it indeed _was_ Gandalf, then it must've been quite recent. No more than… how old was that man? 80 years old? He looked 80 years old.

She jumped when she heard the door squeak as it opened, and she turned around to see the Rohirrim king himself step inside. Emery lowered the book, closing it but holding her thumb between the pages she was reading. She looked at him questionably, unsure what the king would want from her.

"You must have been here quite long," he assumed as he looked around, seeing books on the desks and even some on the ground. He raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything I could help you with, my Lady?"

Emery opened the book again and frowned at the date. However, she couldn't ask about it; it'd be suspicious for every being in Middle Earth to not know about the way of counting years. Well, it made sense. They didn't have a Jesus here that had marked the beginning of the counting of years.

She shook her head. "Thank you, my Lord, but no," she said, "I was simply interested in one of the many battles that have occurred here in your kingdom. You see… my father was Rohirrim. He fell in one of them and I sought information about it."

She tried the best she could to talk formally, knowing she was standing in front of a king. He nodded grimly and walked to her, hands clasped behind his back. She handed over the book to him and watched as he skimmed the text she'd been reading minutes ago. He already seemed to know a lot about the battle, and a shadow fell over his face. _Shit_ , Emery thought and could see his mind was being tormented with nasty images of the battle. _He'd been right in it. Gosh, I should've known._

But the king was a strong one, even though he was no king back then. He had gone through many battles before, but this one was very bad. Hundreds of Men and Elves were slain, however, thousands of Orcs had been killed in return. His army of horse riders along with Gandalf had turned up just in time. The Battle of Helm's Deep was a heavy one, but not as heavy as the one in Minas Tirith. That battle was far more perilous. The two battles were the greatest ones during the War of the Ring, and he had seen it all. The book Emery had been reading was a new one; the latest battles had been written down in its tiniest details. The names of those who were slain were written down; Men _and_ Elves.

He sighed and glanced sideways, meeting Emery's eyes. "Ah," he said in understanding, "there have been many battles fought here in Rohan, but the Battle of Helm's Deep had been a great one, and it had great impact on the War. Many riders have sacrificed their life for the freedom of Middle Earth. I assume you already know about the battle, but it is unfortunate to say your father was one of them, and I am truly sorry for your loss. However, the battle was in our victory."

Emery nodded, trying to visualize the battle. Somehow, she had the feeling it was this battle in the fortress that had been her father's last one. But she didn't exactly know how long ago it had occurred, and according to Gandalf, she was not even a year old when he died. It was then when she realized that all this time, she'd never held count of the date. She didn't even know what month it was.

"I'm sorry, but what is today's date? I, uhm, kind of lost count during the travels", Emery asked, hoping it wouldn't be too suspicious. Éomer frowned, but answered anyways.

"Today, my Lady, it is the 20th of August, 3019."

She nodded, deep in thought. That meant the battle had only been five months ago, so it couldn't be that one where her father died. Still, she had this feeling it _was_ this battle. She would have to ask Gandalf in Lórien. She had so many questions for him, she'd decided to write them all down.

Back in Minas Tirith she'd already noticed something about Gandalf's explanation of her past wasn't right. Because how could she have a twin brother if she was born in another world? For the past few weeks she'd thought furiously about it, but she hadn't asked Gandalf about it. Why she didn't know; maybe she was scared for the answer. She and Thomas were so alike, she couldn't imagine that he wasn't her twin brother.

The door opened again and a servant stepped inside, interrupting Emery's thoughts. He had a confused look on his face as he looked from the king to Emery, but dropped it quickly as Éomer shot him a glare.

"King Aragorn of Gondor wants to speak with you, my king", he announced and left as fast as he came.

Éomer turned to Emery and sighed. "I wish you good luck with your search, lady Emery."

Emery smiled and the king gave her a firm nod before walking out the door.

After reading some more books, she too made her way out of the library. Deep in thought she walked through the halls of the building, ending up on the portico outside. She looked around, taking in the view. The city had been built in an enormous valley, and the hill where Meduseld stood, was high enough to have a good look on the rest of the city. The smaller houses were made of wood, and its roofs were thatched. It reminded her of medieval stories and movies; this could easily be a film set, and she played a damn weird role in the story line.

The sun had already set, only in the far distance could a source of light be seen, but that was also disappearing rapidly behind the mountains. She sighed, watching the sky grow darker, just as her eyes grew more and more tired. But she didn't want to go to bed. Not yet.

But while she was staring in the distance, peacefully, Emery didn't know she was being watched. She was being watched with keen eyes, easily being able to see her face, which was lit in the silver moon light. Her bright eyes were like green spots in the dark, and her fair skin was almost white now. The eyes were curious for her, wondering who this girl was. Who she _really_ was. And it would only be a matter of time before they discovered her secret.

It was just before dawn when Emery tiptoed out of her room. She was on her way outside, to the portico where she'd stood the evening before. She was wearing her night gown (which had kept her awake this night because it kept creeping up in bed), but she didn't expect anyone to see her in it. Nobody would be awake at this hour. Or so she thought.

She walked through the Main Hall- no, Golden Hall, and opened the big double doors that led outside, to the front of Meduseld. She immediately saw she hadn't been the only one awake to go outside for some peace. The blonde Elf, Legolas, was standing on the edge of the platform, next to the stairs to the lower one. His back was turned to her, and he had his hands clasped behind his back. He stood as still as a statue, probably gazing into the distant mountains. He didn't seem to notice her, or he was pretending to be oblivious to her, and Emery hesitated if she should join him or go back to her room. Still holding both doorknobs and the doors open to avoid any noise, she stood there for a few moments.

She shook her head. No, she wanted to be alone for a while, and he seemed to need the same. If that meant no sunrise today, so be it. She walked backwards, allowing the doors to close in front of her, but just when it was ajar, he suddenly lowered his head.

"Good morning, lady Emery," he said without looking at her, his back still towards her.

Emery froze, startled by the sudden voice in the quiet morning. She closed her eyes; she really didn't want company. But still, she found herself pushing the doors open again and she walked over to the prince. He stood firmly, his shoulders a bit tense but wasn't standing as still as before. She inhaled and exhaled through her mouth, and it was more audible than she preferred.

"I, uhm," she began, not wanting to sound rude, "I actually wanted to be alone."

She followed his gaze, and saw he was looking at the mountains, where a small hint of light was seen.

"Correct me if I am wrong, my Lady," Legolas said, not looking away from the beginning dawn, "but I was here first."

He looked at her now, his blue eyes were like a beacon of light in the near-darkness. They were brighter than she'd ever seen and he had a playful twinkle in his eyes.

She smiled. "Guess you're right about that," she said and her smile turned into a grin. "but I was here yesterday evening and kinda reserved the place for now." \

"I was here after sunset."

"I was here _before_."

He thought for a brief moment and then grinned. "I have been in Edoras before."

"I…" Emery thought, but knew she couldn't beat that. "Ok, you win."

She looked up at him. "You're pretty childish for an immortal being, I must say", she said and wondered how old he could be. She'd learned about Elves being immortal back in the bookstore, but she had no idea how old he was. He looked like he was in his twenties though.

He smiled. "I could say the same about you, my Lady."

There was a brief silence. She enjoyed silence. It was a moment when she didn't have to lie about her identity. Her _true_ identity. It was also a moment of reflection, and apparently it was possible to reflect on things in his company. She wondered if he was doing the same thing now.

"Are you not going?" The sound of his voice was soft and calm, and it was obviously not meant of an insult. But Emery frowned. "Ouch, guess I'll go then…" she muttered, but didn't move.

"I was merely asking," he said, "I thought you preferred to be alone."

She smiled and met his gaze, realizing she actually quite enjoyed his company. "It's alright," she sighed and shrugged, "I think I prefer watching the sun rise, doesn't matter if I'm not the only spectator today."

His blue eyes had a sparkle of grey in them, reminding her of her brother, Thomas. He had green eyes, just like Emery, but unlike her he had a sparkle of grey just like Legolas that seemed out of place. The thought of her twin brother made her drop Legolas' gaze and her eyes wandered to the mountains, where the light was becoming a little more clear. A sad look grew across her face, making Legolas frown in curiosity. She missed Thomas a lot. Others always said they looked alike very much despite the genders, but there were simple things that made them both very different.

When Emery smiled or laughed genuinely, a dimple would become visible. This same dimple was to be seen when her lips formed a sad smile thinking about Thomas. She didn't look at the mountain peaks anymore, but her feet.

Her mind wandered to her house, or rather the beach where it stood. Sometimes, Emery would wake up before dawn to watch the sun come out of the sea. That same evening, she'd watch the same sun set. She'd listen to the sound of the cresting waves rolling into the sand, as it got calmer and calmer. It was something she had always done since…

"What are you thinking about?"

Emery looked at the blonde Elf, surprised by the question. Her face softened as he too turned to her.

"That is a rather personal question, prince Legolas", she said with a half-smile. He said nothing as he went back to staring. Emery turned away too, and sighed.

"Home"

Even though Emery was already in college, she still lived with her parents. She studied in Pensacola, where she lived, so she felt no need to move out before her twenties. It had been her second study year of the four, and this year she'd been looking for an apartment. She had worked in a restaurant for over a year and saved her income for a new home. However, there was no place like home with her family. She just found it hard to abandon her cozy bedroom with her cozy window seat, the cozy living room and, of course, her parents.

Now, she had none of them.

"You miss it," he realized out loud. _Well, duh,_ Emery thought and mentally rolled her eyes. But she just nodded. "It must be hard to travel so much in all the sudden", he assumed further, now fully turning towards her. She glanced over to him sideways, her green eyes turning dark. She nodded again.

She crossed her arms in front of her, fighting the urge to cry. She didn't want to break down in front of someone so strong; it'd make her look weak. And she wasn't weak. She _couldn't_ be weak.

"You have never been in Rohan before?", he asked. Emery shook her head. "No," she asked, "but my father was a…" she sought for the words, "…a Rider of Rohan?"

He nodded, but didn't give any sign of surprise. Emery raised an eyebrow. "You already know this, don't you?"

He looked away, before turning to her again. "Yes," he said, "forgive me, I did not know it was meant to be a secret. Éomer told me about your father." Emery sighed and forced a smile. "No, it's not a secret at all."

"You are a Peredhil," he said and frowned, "you are a Half-Elf."

"Yes," she nodded, "my mother might be in Lórien, but uhm, that's a long story."

They talked a bit more from then on; no deep conversations, just chitchat. Sometimes they fell silent, and they watched the first sun rays appear from behind the mountains. It was a peaceful beginning of the day, and truthfully, they enjoyed each other's company. Meanwhile, the sun rose further, becoming brighter and brighter; until it was too bright to look at.

Realizing the other might have awoken as well, Legolas excused himself, leaving Emery to her thoughts.

Emery sighed as she sank into the water. She'd earned a bath after making the Main Hall ready for tonight's feast. When she'd returned from the portico, she found a dress already spread out on her bed, and a maiden had told her about tonight's occasion.

She scrubbed her skin with a brush, turning her fair skin color red. The water was cool, and Emery missed having a hot shower intensely. After the bath she put on her dress. The gown had a simple yet elegant design; the sleeves were tight at the upper arms and widened on their way to her hands. It had a deep crimson red color, reminding her of the walls of her living room back home. A servant had braided her hair, showing her pointed ears to everyone at the party.

Walking out of her room, she could already here the live music play, making her curious for how the feast would be. They were celebrating something, though Emery had no idea what.

A bit insecure, she reached for the doorknobs. She swung the doors open, immediately catching the sound of laughter, music and cutlery. Since the Orc attack during the journey, it was like her senses had improved. She heard things she shouldn't be able to hear, and it was like here sight had sharpened. Right now, the sounds of the feast overwhelmed her quite a lot.

She looked around and spotted the two Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, sitting at a table. The rest seemed to be lost somewhere in the sea of people. She walked over to them, ignoring the glances the people shot her, probably because of her ears.

"Do you mind if I sit here?", she asked, and the two looked up from their plate full of food. Their eyes widened as they gazed at her from toe to head. She felt her confidence sink deep into the ground. Was it her dress? Was it too much? Or was it too simple for this occasion?

Merry seemed to be the first one to unfreeze. "Of course, lady Emery," he said happily, "have you already eaten something?" She shook her head as she settled down in front of them. "No," she answered, "I'm not hungry yet. I think I'll grab a plate later."

"It's really great!", Pippin said cheerfully as he stuffed a spoon with pork and potatoes in his mouth as a joyous child. She chuckled, shaking her head. Suddenly she felt the bench she was sitting on move heavily, and she turned sideways to see Gimli had sat down next to her; a plate in one hand and trying to hold two cups in the other.

"Aye laddie," he agreed with Pippin and then turned to Emery. "Lass", he greeted and put one of the large cups in front of her roughly, spilling some of the liquor in it.

She looked at it, her face blank. "What is it?", she asked uncertain. Again, the bench moved, but far less than before.

"You know not what a pint is?", a voice asked, and she looked over to see the blonde Elf. He had his eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I know what a pint is. But what beer is it?" She'd drunk beer before, though she hadn't liked it.

"It's ale, of course", Gimli said and took a gulp. She frowned. "What's _ale_?", she asked and brought the pint to her nose to smell it. It smelled pretty strong, but quite nice actually.

"It is not expected for a lady to drink much, but ale, lady Emery- even though you are an Elleth, is general knowledge."

She looked at where the sound came from and saw king Éomer had sat down at the head of the table on a chair. He grinned at her and she saw that he too had a pint of ale in his hands. She looked around and noticed that almost every man here was drinking ale. Then, she realized that the women here didn't drink much, at least, far less than the men. Their cups were smaller, not the pints the men were drinking. Back home, girls drank as much as the guys in bars or clubs; it honestly didn't matter.

She peered into the cup, wondering what it would taste like. As she studied the liquor, she thought about the king's words. Couldn't a woman drink as much as a man? Was it inappropriate? Why could a man be wasted to the max and a woman not? Not that she was _that_ wild, but Ava certainly could be.

"So, you're implying that drinking isn't _lady-like_?", she said and didn't look up, the last words had a hint of disgust. She looked up now, and saw that Faramir and Aragorn had joined too. At last, the Company was complete. Except for Ava and Gandalf. She flinched at the thought of Ava. She should've been here with her at the feast. She would've loved it.

Aragorn seemed to know exactly what the conversation was about. "To be honest, no, not really," he said and met Emery's glare which made him try again. "I would not expect an Elleth to participate into a drinking contest." The others chuckled, knowing the unlikeliness.

"A drinking game?", Emery said as she raised an eyebrow, "I don't think Gimli agrees though," and with that she cut them off, especially the Dwarf who now lifted his eyebrows in turn. "Otherwise he wouldn't have given me this pint of ale."

She heard Gimli grunting. She'd never joined a drinking game; she found them stupid. She didn't understand why people liked it. _The last one who remains standing…_ What? They win a friggin' hangover.

"Though drinking games seem… childish to me," she said as she brought the cup to her mouth, "I do think I can decide for myself if I drink or not." With that, she took a large gulp of the ale.

The liquor burned in her gullet, and then onward to her chest. It was pretty strong, just like the smell, but all the same it was nice. She closed her eyes for a brief second and shook her head. She looked around and didn't expect to see the others look surprised. Apparently they really didn't think Emery would drink, and she didn't understand that.

"I agree, m'lady Emery!", Pippin suddenly cried and also drank from his ale. Emery grinned as she took another sip from her pint. The ale was now nothing more than a nice, warm sensation flowing through her chest. Her pint was empty fast and Merry and Pippin immediately called someone over with a flask in his hands to refill her pint. The man had gazed at her curiously, but she smiled as she held out her cup. When it was fully filled again, she clung her pint with the two Hobbits, a challenging grin formed on her face. With this, the banquet was over; and the party began at last.

When it came to sexism or feminism, Emery had a clear mind listed with arguments. It began at junior high, when her class had to debate about this subject. She almost choked hearing one boy's argument.

 _"I understand why women are paid less, though. I mean, once a month they're pretty useless, if you know what I mean…"_

She'd been furious at the boy.

 _"That's freaking bullshit, Martin. Having blood running out of my vagina doesn't mean I can't do anything. Does having a hard dick every morning when you wake up make you useless?"_

She was disqualified immediately.

Right now, she didn't feel the same rage of course. But she _did_ feel like she had to prove herself.

 _Prove yourself by drinking?_ _Wow, such a feminist, Em._

However, it was not just that what made her drink the pints. She kinda needed the distraction. Thoughts about Ava, her mother and dead father, home and her brother still lingered in her mind. This might be the only way to make them stop tormenting her.

So, when the tables were finally pushed aside and moved away, and the music became more upbeat, Emery wasn't the shy and quiet girl anymore. It was easier for her to talk to the Company. She didn't back out of conversations like she normally did since she'd arrived in Middle Earth. This didn't mean she was drunk all the way. She was simply a bit tipsy.

Okay, maybe more than tipsy.

"You know very little about the war, it seems", Legolas said after she'd asked several questions about the topic and the Fellowship. She had just found out about the fact this wasn't the first time they'd traveled together, and she did nothing to hide it at all. Normally, her mind would ring the alarm bells furiously, warning her to stop talking and acting stupid, but there weren't any. And if they _were_ there, Emery didn't hear them.

The two were standing away from the crowd, leaning against the wall. Legolas didn't mind talking to her; he used it to get to know her. He already felt something was off about her. She wasn't like any normal Elleth from his realm nor the others. She seemed very effected by the ale, which usually wasn't the case with Elves.

"Do I?", she said with a smirk and laughed for what seemed to be no reason. "I know y'all saved the world and all." She waved her hand as if it was just a tiny detail of what she knew about them.

The blonde Elf frowned and slightly tilted his head. He knew about the strange accent, but her manner of speaking, the way she moved and how she acted was strange and unlike every other being in Middle Earth.

"Forgive me for asking," he said and put on his mask again, trying to hide his frown and suspicion. "How much… life experience do you have?"

Emery frowned but then smirked. "Is this you asking me how old I am?", she asked, and when he looked away, not saying anything and shifted uncomfortably she laughed and took a sip of her pint.

"Now, that's no question to ask a lady, Blondie", she said playfully, not even noticing she'd just given the prince of Mirkwood a _nickname_. He lifted an eyebrow and drew them back into a frown. Did she just..?

"Perhaps you should rest, lady Emery. We will soon be leaving Edoras and you need your rest for the travel to Lothlórien", he said, already guiding her towards the doors to the halls. But Emery refused and shook her head. "No," she whined, "No, I ain't no party pooper. It's a medieval party for Jesus' sake!" She turned around, ready to refill her pint. Again.

When Emery had refilled her pint, she turned around to take a good look at the crowd. People were dancing, chatting and drinking; it looked like a chaos. But Emery only smiled, proud at herself to be more open towards the men she got to know. Not once did she think about Ava, or home. She lived in the present this evening, and she enjoyed it.

Her gaze fell on the table, where the Company and Éomer were sitting. She walked towards them, and saw Blondie had already joined them. Merry and Pippin were missing, and she figured they must be dancing on a table or something.

"Well," she said as she took a seat next to Gimli, "Blondie here told me a bit about the Fellowship…" everyone raised their eyebrows by the use of the nickname and looked at Legolas strangely. "…and just wondered 'bout something: there were a Dwarf, an Elf, two Men and four Hobbits in the Fellowship, but there were no _women_ involved?!" Even when drunk her feminist side was undeniable. And hearing that of course only _men_ had saved the world and the women were probably at home, watching over the kids or crying in fear during battles, was a cliché she wanted to kick out of the world.

The men just looked at her, not knowing what to say. Was it so weird that there were no women in the Fellowship? After all, war was meant for men, not women.

Emery shook her head, disappointed as those thoughts were etched on their faces. She rubbed her temple.

"I guess not", she sighed and took a sip of her pint.

"My sister was a warrior," Éomer spoke up, "though my uncle, former king of Rohan, did not want her to fight, she eventually did and saved him from a harsh death. However… he passed after all."

"She killed a Nazgûl", Aragorn said as if he still couldn't quite believe it. Emery had no idea what a Nazgûl was, but didn't ask about it. Gandalf must have forgotten to tell her about it.

"My wife is still a warrior," Faramir said proudly and Emery assumed he was married with Éomer's sister. "And she will always be one."

There was a silence, and everyone seemed to take a moment to think about the lady warrior. But also about their adventures during the War of the Ring. It must've been one hell of a ride.

"I don't know who the hell this girl is," Emery said, abruptly and rather rudely breaking the silence. "But cheers to this badass lady warrior!" With that, she raised her pint and waited for the others to join in. After some hesitation and brief glances between one another, they too raised their cups.

"To Éowyn and Rohan", Faramir said and dipped his head before drinking his ale.

After another silence, Aragorn looked up at Emery, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Why is it strange that no woman was in the Fellowship?", he asked, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up, surprised.

"Uhm… Isn't it obvious?", she asked in disbelief. "Hellooooo, ever heard of Feminism?!"

The men frowned at her. "What is feminism?", she suddenly heard behind her and turned around to see Merry and Pippin standing there. She lifted her eyebrows and huffed. "That's what they all say," she murmured and took a sip of her liquor. She looked up and sighed.

"Feminists strive equality between men and women, since women are treated in a different and… lower way than men. It really differs per country in which level that happens, though it's in every country known that women are treated less."

Aragorn's eyes narrowed and everyone seemed to take in her words.

"I do not know what world you are from, my Lady," Faramir said as his expression dulled a bit, "but I have never heard of that word before."

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**_

 _ **-xoxo-**_


	12. Piercing headache & piercing arrows

**CHAPTER XII – Piercing headache & piercing arrows**

 **Hey everyone!**

 **Another chapter for you :) I really hope you like it!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

That next morning, Emery woke up with a mighty headache: the headache of a hangover. Normally, she would never let it go so far. Some people called it prudish or a 'goody-goody', but she called it wise. It didn't mind her if Ava or others drank, Emery herself was just afraid to lose control like that. The thought scared her: losing control or some sort of filter to hold back certain thoughts from saying aloud was not something she was not waiting for.

And now, all Emery could remember was drinking three pints, though she knew the actual number had to be… closer to ten? Maybe over ten? She kinda remembered she had talked with Legolas, but it was more a blur. She tried to sit upright, leaning on her lower arms, but fell back when she felt the back of her head throbbing. That definitely wasn't the hangover.

She placed a hand on her head, running her fingers through her own hair. Her hand froze when she felt a big hump on the right side of the back of her head. Apparently, she'd hit something. If not, the floor.

She stood up, hand still placed on the painful spot on her head, and her eyebrows drawn in a frown, wondering what time it could be. She walked over to the window and opened the shutters. The bright light blinded her eyes and she realized she had slept in.

"Shit", she muttered, knowing she was late. Today, the Company would plan the route to Lórien. She quickly slipped out of her annoying long night gown to grab another dress out of her closet, brushed her hair and rushed out of her room.

To be honest, she already was quite done with wearing the gowns. Sure, they were pretty and they made her feel like she was a princess, but she just preferred something she could move freely in. Right now she had to hold her skirt in one hand above her feet to prevent her from falling as she ran through the halls.

While running, she passed her handmaiden, Gloriël, and asked her where Aragorn and the others were. Then, she hurried to the Main Hall, where they should be according to her.

She came to a stop and was just about to open the double doors, when her pointy ears picked up more than they normally could have. She froze when she heard a familiar voice speak softly.

"…might have already passed when we arrive", the voice said, that she recognized as the Gondorian king. He was speaking somberly with a sense of pity in his tone, but also concern.

"Do you think we should prepare her, or inform her at least?", another calm voice said, which could be the blonde Elf, Legolas.

It was a cliché: Emery was about to barge in on a conversation- about _her_. And now, she was eavesdropping it.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Emery stood as still as she could, but she felt a wave of worry and nausea dwell up inside her. They were talking about Ava, and they thought she was dead. But Ava simply couldn't die. She just _couldn't_. If she would, she'd feel like a part of her would die too.

She heard a sigh. "I do not know. She probably already knows the danger lady Ava is in. But she is an Elleth," Aragorn paused. _An Elleth? Oh, oh! That was a word for a female Elf._ "You of all know Elves grieve differently. And she is her best friend…" His voice lowered, and he didn't finish his sentence as if he was afraid to speak certain words out loud.

"You fear she might fade."

It wasn't a question, but an assumption. Confused by the words Legolas had spoken, she quietly took a step back. Even though she didn't know what _fading_ meant, she had this idea it was bad.

There was a brief silence.

"You seem to have grown quite fond of the lady", another voice spoke. It took her a while before she knew who it was. The voice had been king Éomer's, and she was quite surprised by his words. Curiously she waited for Aragorn to answer.

"Arwen used to invite the ladies for breakfast sometimes," he explained, "they are very nice, though their behavior is quite… odd. Especially lady Emery's. She behaves very differently from other Elves."

Emery's eyebrows raised and then fell back in a frown. She furiously tried to hold back a grunt. _Odd?_ Did he know how much effort she'd put to blend in with the rest and fit in? It had been close to freaking impossible!

She heart the snort of what had to be Gimli.

"Aye," he agreed, "she looks like fair Elleth, but her dark, night black hair is something I have not seen in your kin, Legolas. Even the Elves in Rivendell don't have hair that dark. And next to that…" he paused as if he wanted to announce a sudden plot twist, "she was quite far off, last night."

Emery didn't know if Gimli had been positive or negative about her hair and shifted uncomfortably. If her hair would've let her, she would definitely have dyed it. But unfortunately, her hair was too dark and dominating to other colors, so it was impossible to do that.

But the words he spoke about last night made her a bit scared. What did she do? Had she done anything stupid? She cringed at the thought that she might've danced on a table or something. Because Ava had done that plenty times when she had been drunk.

Besides, Gimli, Merry and Pippin were also drunk last night, no doubt. It couldn't be that strange she was too, _right?_

"I agree, Gimli," Legolas said, "black hair is uncommon among Elves. However, she is a half-Elf. It could be her father had dark hair. And yesterday was odd indeed, since ale should not be so intoxicating to Elves as it did with her. Though I see not how you know, for you were very drunk and had started about swimming with Dwarf maidens. Again."

The Dwarf grunted, sounding mock-offended. Emery could almost _hear_ the smirk on the Elf's face. She smacked her hand on her forehead. How could she be so stupid to get so drunk? What if she'd said something about her past, about Earth? One thing she'd learned from drunk people was that they never lie, even if the truth was a bit exaggerated.

"I do not know why, Gimli," Aragorn said, "but somehow that topic always comes up when you have drunk to much ale."

Emery realized the conversation had gone in a new direction when Gimli reacted with a Dwarf-witty remark. She quietly chuckled and stepped back. There was no point of eavesdropping anymore.

"There you are, Emery!"

Emery jumped, startled by the sudden loud voice behind her. She turned around to see Merry and Pippin walking towards. They came to a stop in front of her, watching her curiously as she glanced from one to another.

"We were looking for you. What are you doing here?", Pippin asked with his sweet innocent voice, but gave away her position to the rest of the men in the hall.

"Just… I was just…" _eavesdropping_ "…about to walk in, actually", she muttered, "I've been looking for you guys too and thought you were probably in the Golden Hall." She shrugged, as if she was totally innocent, but saw the suspicious look on the Hobbit's faces. Of course, they weren't stupid. They looked young, but that didn't mean they were children.

Emery took a deep breath and turned around, facing the doors. She exhaled and pushed them open, walking casually to the others. They had fallen silent, already waiting for them to come in. Aragorn, Éomer, Legolas, Gimli and Faramir- who hadn't said anything during the conversation about her, were sitting around a table.

"We have been waiting for you", Aragorn said seriously, but he was trying to hold back a grin. He wondered how much of a headache the Lady had at the moment.

She stopped walking. "Me?", she asked, a finger pointed to her own chest and an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, you", he said slowly, and gestured her to sit down. "We sent Merry and Pippin to find you." She glanced at the two Halflings and smiled, then sat down in front of Aragorn, next to Faramir.

"So," she sighed, "what's up?"

Aragorn frowned. "What is… up?", he repeated strangely. Realizing people here didn't talk that way, Emery chuckled awkwardly and corrected herself. "Uhm," she said, "I meant, what's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No," he said and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Nothing is wrong, or 'up' as you say. We wanted to fill you in on our route for upcoming journey," his eyebrows furrowed and he looked stern, "since you were not present."

She looked down in embarrassment, biting her inner lip. "I'm sorry," she said, "I kinda forgot to wake up, I guess"

It sounded stupid, but it was true! She didn't have a morning alarm anymore to wake her up at 7 o'clock. And now she finally had a nice bed again instead of a thin bedroll, so she slept deeper than before. Oh, and maybe the alcohol didn't help much either…

She looked up to see a very rare and strange expression across the Gondorian king's face. He grinned. He actually grinned. Even though he seemed to try to hold it back, there was an unmistakable grin on his face. She looked around the table, catching Faramir who had a knowing smile. She saw that even Gimli had an amused smile and grunted.

Her own face however, was filled with worry and slight horror.

 _Oh my God, what the fuck did I do?!_

Aragorn raised an eyebrow and Emery covered her mouth. "Did I say that out loud?", she asked as she cringed. He nodded slowly, now frowning. "Sorry for my use of language then."

It was quiet for a long ten seconds. They all stared at her, quite surprised by the way she swore. After last night they were curious for how she'd act, and apparently she'd broken through her comfort zone or something like that. What the effect of alcohol can do.

"You were rather… talkative," Legolas spoke, "more than normally."

Emery huffed, a bit relieved. "Oh," she said, "well, if that's the only thing than I can stop worrying, can't I?" At least, as long as she hadn't said _too_ much, it was all okay.

"Let us speak about that later," Aragorn said and looked around the table, "Tomorrow, by the break of dawn, we shall head for Lothlórien. We must pack light and ride fast, for Gandalf and," he turned to Emery, "your friend are waiting for us."

Her stomach dropped thinking about Ava. What is she _was_ death, like Aragorn feared? What if they were too late?

"How long is the journey?", she found herself asking.

"Five to six days on horseback", Aragorn answered. Emery sighed and leaned back in her chair. Six days, jeezz. She was _so_ not looking forward to that. She'd never get used to the travel distances and lengths. Next to that, horse riding was damn tiring. Bullshit to whoever said horse riding wasn't a sport and just sitting on a horse. Try sitting on that beast all day!

The next half hour he explained the route. She didn't know all the names of the areas and fields and forests: she heard something about the Snowbourn, Entwash, Fangorn Forest, and more. She looked at the map in front of her and only now realized the great distances between the places. Why didn't they go straight to Lórien from Minas Tirith? It would've been so much shorter, and smarter for all she knew.

When the meeting was over, the Company fell apart. Aragorn stayed in the Hall, and the rest went outside. Emery was just about to do the latter, when a thought popped up in her mind. She turned to the Rohirrim king, who was talking with one of the guards. She waited for them to finish before she walked over to him.

"King Éomer?", she called hesitantly.

He turned around to face her. "Yes, lady Emery?"

She swallowed, facing the handsome king. It was annoying that she couldn't just ask a question without stumbling over the words. _It's just a human, Em, just like you, jeez_. She mentally shook her head. Why was she such an awkward person?

She played with her hair band around her wrist, which she luckily hadn't lost yet.

"I was wondering where I could find the tailors," she said, forcing herself to stop being so nervous about a simple question. "Because, before our arrival here in Edoras we were attacked by a group of… Orcs…" She still found it crazy to say that word out loud "…which you probably already know because king Aragorn probably already filled you in about that," she realized she was rambling, sighed and got to the point, "my dress nearly killed me. I mean, I _tripped_ over my dress. So, yeah…"

 _Good job, Em_.

"I would like some pants, or leggings instead of dresses", she finally said, realizing she could just have asked 'where are the tailors' and he probably would've given her directions. She was wasting his time and already felt guilty.

She waited for his reaction, which was amusing smile that played across his face. Éomer found her quite amusing, and he knew the others thought the same. She was different from other women; much more likely to speak up, even though sometimes it got the better of her. The funniest thing was that she totally didn't realized how amusing she was, too nervous to notice.

He nodded. "I indeed believe a gown is not so practical for your journey, my Lady. But you need not find them yourself. I shall order the ladies to make you some suitable clothes. They shall be brought to your room before dawn", he said reassuringly. She had a comparable figure of his sister, so it wouldn't be a problem.

Emery smiled and thanked him very much. She turned around and was about to leave when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. It was firm, yet gentle, and she was more than surprised by his action. She turned around and felt her cheeks burn when she faced him. He had a look of pity in his eyes, but also sympathy. She was confused, curious about what he had to say. There was very little distance between each other, and it made Emery a bit uncomfortable to stand that close to a king; but perhaps in a good way?

 _Oh shut up, Em, you can't have a crush on a fucking king. It's outright pathetic._

"I heard about your companion being injured by these Orcs," he said, showing compassion, "it is certainly sad to hear."

Emery sighed. She was quite done with all the pity around her, but she just nodded and her face grew grim. "She was more than a companion, my Lord," she said, "she was my best friend."

Éomer frowned, and the corner of her eye she saw Aragorn walking towards them. She had forgotten he was here. "You speak as if she is already lost," he stated, and then she realized she'd been talking in past tense. "But you underestimate your own kin, lady Emery. They are very great healers. She will be fine."

She nodded, but the words that he'd spoken earlier, when she was eavesdropping, lingered in her mind. Still, she half-smiled. "I appreciate your words, king Aragorn."

He smiled in return and walked to his packs. Éomer said goodbye and left the hall. She sat down on a bench and hugged herself as a shield against the tormenting thoughts of Ava. A single tear rolled down her eye, and an uncontrolled sniff escaped.

She quickly brought her hand to her face to wipe the tear away when Aragorn stood up and walked over to her. He sat down in front of her and looked at the girl. He pitied her, but realized she probably didn't want pity.

He hesitated. Should he ask her if she wanted to talk or should he leave her alone? Aragorn could easily read people, but Emery was harder to read and he didn't know why. He watched her bow her head, he was probably making her nervous.

"If you ever feel a need to talk," he said, and for a brief moment he sounded uncertain, which caused Emery to look up at him. "I shall listen to your words."

Emery's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth fell open. She didn't expect this from a king; he had so much on his head already. Duties, and other kingly things… How could she waste his time by talking about her troubles?

"I also thank you for that, king Aragorn, but it feels wrong to disturb you from your kingly duties."

He smiled. "I am not in Gondor anymore, which means I am no king here," he reassured her, "and with that, I have no kingly duties to attend. Also, you may call me Aragorn, as all our companions do so."

She nodded a bit uncertain.

"You might as well accept my offer, though I shall not force you", he said kindly.

So, they talked. It was a bit weird at first, since, well, she didn't really know him that well. However, she felt like she needed to open up to release herself from the heavy burdens.

She told him about her worries of Ava and the travel. She told him about the fact that she was quite scared of the Orcs, but that she didn't want the others know because she was afraid to look weak. And she definitely didn't want to look weak in a Company with such strong men. She also told him that was nervous to see her long lost mother again, since she didn't really know her.

Aragorn listened, not asking any questions while she told him about her feelings. He understood her well; she looked like a young Elleth, perhaps not even 400 years old. And she'd lived in quite some isolation according to Gandalf. No wonder she was different from the other Elves.

"I do not even know why I share this with you, king- I mean, Aragorn," Emery finally said and sighed. "This is something I would share with a mother or Ava, not a king."

He shook his head and smiled. "You seem to carry a burden of worries with you, my Lady," he said as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. "Now, I am no counselor, but I suppose it is good that you let it out. I also thank you for trusting me with your thoughts."

Emery smiled thankfully, but Aragorn could see the sadness behind it. "If I can call you Aragorn, than you won't have to call me by 'my Lady'", she said. He nodded and gave her one more reassuring smile, stood up and grabbed his stuff and walked away.

Before he opened the door he turned around. "Rest today Emery, we will leave early tomorrow." And with that, he was gone.

She was alone in the Golden Hall, and she finally took her time to look around. There was a big fire pit-ish in the middle of the room, and many banners hung next to the pillars. She stood up to get a better look. Each banner was different, but they were all decorated with pretty designs. They also all had a horse, and she figured it must be some sort of emblem for Rohan.

The way of living here in Middle Earth was so similar to the medieval times on Earth. If she wouldn't have known about the place she'd landed in, she would really think she had traveled back in time to the Dark Ages. It seemed that all the myths and fairy tales were realized in one world. And she was in it.

It was around noon when she left the Hall and went to her room to grab her bow and quiver. She hadn't practiced for a while and heard guards talking about a training ground. After asking a passant where it was she walked along, following the man's instructions. He had stared at her strangely, as if it was weird that _she_ was going to practice with her bow. She ignored it, just as the glares of other men who were already training on the grounds.

She walked over to the area for archery and looked at the target. The first one stood about 30 meters away from her, the second 40 meters, and then on until 90. _Let's just start with the first target, Em. No need to prove yourself when you're really… not that good_.

She grabbed an arrow out of her leather quiver and nocked it. She closed one eye as she pulled the string taut and brought her hand holding the string to her face. She let the arrow fly, lowered her bow and saw the arrow had hit the target, but on the outer ring. A few men who had been secretly watching chuckled softly, but Emery was oblivious to the spectators.

"Dammit", she murmured and pulled another arrow. She just had to take her time and focus. She thought about her training with Florién, trying to dig up his instructions.

 _"_ _Good, now, make sure your body is perpendicular to your target."_

She shifted her body, right-angled to the imaginary shooting line.

 _"_ _Watch your feet, my Lady."_

Emery looked down to place her feet shoulder-width. When Florién had shown her how he did it, she noticed his stance was different than what he'd learned her. Confused, she'd asked him why. He told her that when you become more advanced, you can develop an 'open-stance'.

 _"_ _But how you develop this, is up to you, lady Emery."_

She couldn't call herself advanced, she only had ten lessons in archery. She was far from advanced. However, she _did_ feel like she was progressing.

Emery inhaled through her nose, and exhaled slowly through her mouth, focusing on her target. She released the arrow, feeling the string flow back. She lowered the bow, and saw the arrow had hit the target close to the inner circle. She smiled and decided to draw one more arrow.

Again, she kept the instructions in her mind and let the string go. The arrow had hit the rose, and proudly she walked towards the next target. The men didn't chuckle or laugh anymore, but it honestly didn't matter for Emery, since she didn't notice them at all.

She shot the next target well; two close to the rose and one in it. She went on to the next one, 50 meters away from her. Again, it went pretty well. When she arrived at the one with a distance of 60 meters, she noticed she had to squeeze her eyes to focus more.

Suddenly, everything seemed to be sharper than before. Emery widened her eyes, but then squeezed them shut. She'd had this before, right before the Orc attack, when the light of the fire was too bright to look at. The light of the sun was all the sudden to bright, even if she looked away. She held her eyes closed for a few more moments until she felt her eyes were less pained. Slowly, she opened her eyes and noticed she wasn't blinded by the light anymore.

She looked around and her mouth parted a bit. It was like she could see _everything_ ; that one leaf in the distant tree, that one dew drop on that blade of grass and the brown spots on that bird flying high in the sky. It was a literal eye opener, and she _knew_ it had to do something with her being an Elf. But why now? She had it before at the camp fire, and her keen sight never left, so why did it happen again? She needed Gandalf. He could probably answer her questions.

A sigh escaped her mouth and she notched an arrow. Somehow, she felt like she could easily do this one, no matter the distance. She pulled the string taut, and looked at the target. Her keener eyes pierced through the rose as they were the arrow itself, and the next moment, the arrow pierced through the inner circle of the target just like her eyes did.

No less than a second later, her arrow that hit the rose of the target was pierced by another. It was almost like the wind that the other arrow had caused by flying past her, came later than it was supposed to. She gasped and jumped, almost dropping her bow.

She turned around and saw a certain blonde Elf standing a few meters behind her, smirking. He held a bow, designed with floral prints in the wood. She knew immediately he had shot the arrow. She looked from Legolas to the target. _What… How?!_ When she turned to him again, his smirk widened even more.

"Impressive", Emery mumbled and looked at her own bow, tracing her fingers along the wooden structure.

"You are quite good yourself as well, my Lady", he said and he walked over to her. Emery huffed, and looked at her first target. "Only if I have enough time to focus," she said a bit disappointed, "I wouldn't last longer than ten seconds on the battlefield."

He frowned. "You killed two Orcs out there. Not bad for a girl who has never fought in such sudden attacks and ambushes before", he said and now smiled. Emery didn't look at him.

"And then the third almost killed me", she whispered, so soft that probably only someone with very keen hearing could hear it. Like Legolas.

He thought for a second. "Do you only use the bow?", he asked and Emery nodded. "Perhaps you should learn to wield a sword."

She looked at him. A sword? She knew quite certain of herself that she was very bad at that. Closer to horrible. But he had a point. She couldn't do anything when they came close. Now that she thought of it, she could use an arrow as a knife or something, but that wasn't as good as a sword or blade.

"Lady Emery?"

Emery jumped, interrupted from her thoughts. "What? Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. But we're leaving tomorrow. Can't learn how to use a sharp thing in only one day", she blurted.

"That is true. Let us not count on another ambush then," he said and walked away. "Next time you shoot an arrow, do not forget your right elbow."

She sighed and muttered a 'thanks'. She looked at the 60m target and noticed he forgot his arrow. She frowned, thinking it wasn't really something for him to forget it. "Hey, you forgot-" she turned around and saw he was already gone. She shrugged and walked to the next target.

It was around afternoon tea time when she had gathered all the arrows. Because of her lack of concertation she hadn't hit one rose after Legolas' interruption. She walked onward to the 60m target where he had intruded. Well, she could forget about her own arrow. She grabbed the arrow that had pierced hers and looked at it. The feathers at the end of it where soft, and so were its colors. She hesitated for a moment, and then put it in her quiver. She pulled the two halves of her own arrow out of the target and shook her head.

 _If I could train on using the bow and arrow for more than a thousand years, I could do that too._

Emery smiled when she saw Gloriël was readying a bath. She jumped when she heard Emery closing the door. "I did not hear you coming, my Lady, forgive me", she said, and Emery shook her head. "No, do not be," she said and she looked at the bath, "thank you, Gloriël."

She nodded and smiled. "How was your day, lady Emery?", she asked politely. Emery sighed and undressed herself to get in the bath tub. "It was quite okay, I think," she said as she sank down in the water, which was warm for a change. "I have been practicing with my bow and arrow this afternoon and I have this feeling I am getting better. It has been a while since I have trained. Legolas though, thinks I should learn how to wield a sword. But it is too late for that, since we are leaving tomorrow morning."

Emery noticed she hadn't used contractions the whole time. God, she was starting to talk just like everyone else here.

"I never have seen a lady warrior before, beside lady Éowyn", Gloriël said. Emery frowned. "That's the king's sister, right? And Faramir's spouse?" Gloriël nodded.

They had chatted a bit more, and Emery was sad she would have to leave tomorrow. Gloriël was such a nice girl, and really helpful. Until now, she didn't really have someone to just talk to since Ava went to Lórien and Gloriël offered her quite some distraction.

"I have a gown for you, my Lady," Gloriël stood up from her chair and walked to the closet. "for the last diner." She took a dress out of the closet and held it in front of her. Emery gasped.

"It's absolutely lovely, thank you so much!", Emery squealed, got out of the tub and threw a towel around her body. The skirt of the gown was white and the body had a soft green color. It was charming, but simple, but the green color matched her eyes in a surprising way.

"You look beautiful, Emery", Aragorn said when she walked inside. She smiled at him and sat down beside the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin agreed, and the rest of the Company and Éomer seemed to like the outfit of her as well. She blushed and felt her cheeks burn, and started eating her food.

Dinner was nice. They talked about unimportant things, and Emery looked around the table. Who would've thought? A Dwarf, an Elf, Hobbits and Men, talking about their favorite food. In her mind, she was laughing out loud. It was totally absurd.

After dinner, she went to the portico to reflect one last time. She was so close now! So close to meeting her real mother, to hearing about who she _really_ was. And Ava. She would finally see Ava again.

Her pointy ears caught light footsteps and she turned around.

"Hello, Legolas", she said and let out a breath. "No arrow to shoot past my head?"

He smiled and walked to stand next to her. She turned to the mountains, she could see better now in the dark. If only she could capture this view with a camera right now.

"No," he said with a grin, "I have no arrow to surpass you."

Emery huffed. "Oh, you're one of those guys."

"How?"

"Arrogant", she said but smiled at him.

He smirked, but then turned serious again. He cleared his throat.

"There is something I wanted to ask you", he announced and Emery raised a brow. "You want to know my age?", she said sarcastically.

Now he lifted his eyebrows. "So you do remember about our conversation?", he asked a bit surprised.

"Not much, but yeah, I remember", Emery shrugged.

"Also the…" he paused "…nickname?"

She frowned. "Nickname?", she asked confused and then widened her eyes. "Did I give you a nickname?"

He nodded, and Emery couldn't read his face. He was wearing an emotionless mask, and it scared Emery quite a bit.

"You called me Blondie", he said seriously, though she could hear a sour tone in his voice. Emery let out a bark of laughter and put a hand over her mouth. "Shit, I did?", she said, her hand still over her mouth. He frowned and nodded again. She'd called a prince _blondie_. She straightened her back and forced herself to be serious.

"Sorry, prince," she said, "I shall not do it again if it bothered you."

He shook his head and smiled as well. "It bothered me not, lady Emery, though I must say no one has ever given me a nickname like that before." Emery chuckled and looked towards the mountains again.

Just like when they had watched the dawn yesterday, they were enjoying the silence between them, and Emery found she suddenly was surprisingly at ease near the prince of Mirkwood.

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 **Please don't forget to _review_ this story, I'd like to know what you think about the story so far. Hang tight for the next chapter!**

 **-xoxo-**


	13. Red, the color of

**CHAPTER XIII – Red, the color of…**

 **Hello you guys!**

 **Another chapter for ya! It's pretty long, sorry 'bout that.**

 **tkhiroshi: _thank you for the compliment! And for the other thing, you'll have to wait and see ;)_**

 **AndurilofTolkien: _thank you for both reviews! :))_**

 **Okay, soooo you have no idea how many times I've checked this chapter, and I changed a lot of thing last minute, lol. This chapter will have more suspense in it, I hope you like it! Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I only own my own OCs and the plot. It'd be frecking awesome if I own LotR, but hey, I don't and you know that.**

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That next morning, the morning of their departure, Emery found herself waking up in a pool of her own blood. Realizing what karma had done to her, a frustrated growl escaped her mouth and she threw her pillow away with all her strength. She watched how it hit the vanity across the bed.

 _Of course_ it had to be today!

She sat upright and looked at the bed sheet when she heard a gentle knock on her door.

"Lady Emery?" she heard, and realized it was Legolas.

She froze as the door squeaked open slowly.

"No!", she shouted and threw her blanket back over her body and covered the red spot on her sheets. "Don't come in!"

The door stopped, and to her relief she saw he wasn't peering inside to make sure she was okay. "Are you all right?", he asked from behind the door, and she could hear concern in his voice.

She rubbed her nose. "Yeah," she said, "yeah, I'm fine. But, uhm, could you perhaps find Gloriël? Or another servant? Female, preferably."

She waited for him to answer, but nothing was said and he closed the door. She sighed and fell back on her bed, forgetting she'd thrown her pillow away. She had probably insulted the prince by giving him some sort of order, but she didn't care; she was on her fucking ladies days.

Less than five minutes later, Gloriël appeared in her room. She had a pile of clothes in her hand and Emery figured she must've gotten them from the tailors. She put them down and looked at Emery, whose face was flushed with annoyance and frustration.

"Is something wrong, my La-"

Emery threw her sheets away and exposed the red spot. Gloriël's eyes widened. "Oh," she stammered, "Let me find something for you." She walked out of the room hastily and came back with a basket filled with the medieval versions of sanitary pads. She pushed the basket in Emery's hand and gestured her to go to the bathroom. Emery got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

"Ugh, I just hate that it has to be _now_!", Emery said loudly so that Gloriël could hear her.

"It indeed is inconvenient, my Lady, but I am most afraid we cannot do anything about it", she heard her saying with pity.

The pads were made of cotton and very soft, but would it keep her comfortable during the journey to Lórien? It was a five day ride, maybe even six, and Emery did _not_ look forward to it.

When she was done she peered back in her room from behind the door and saw Gloriël had already changed the bedsheets and put them in a bigger basket, probably for the laundry. Emery handed her night gown over, and in turn got the pile of clothes from Gloriël. She closed the door again and took a look at the clothing.

The tailors had made two leggings, one black and one earth brown, a dark grey vest and a grey-greenish tunic for underneath. There also was a large belt, which honestly looked as tight as a corset or something. But it was probably made for her so that she didn't look like a potato sack.

She put the clothes on and walked back into her room. Gloriël had an approving smile on her face when she turned to see Emery. She looked in the vanity mirror; the pillow was already back on the bed. It wasn't herself that she saw in the mirror. It wasn't Emery Liliath from Pensacola; she looked fierce! Her hair was braided, her pointed ears visible to everyone. Now all she needed was her bow, and she'd look like Katniss Everdeen.

Only five minutes later she walked down the halls, on her way to meet the rest of the Company in the Golden Hall. Her pack was light, with only an extra legging, flasks of water and extra sanitary pads. Her bedroll was clasped behind it.

She shoved the annoyance of her menstruation aside and made space for new determination. But the annoyance came back when she walked into the Golden Hall and spotted Legolas and Aragorn who stood next to a table were watching her come in with a concerned look on their faces. She raised an eyebrow and stopped walking, crossing her arms in front of her.

"What?", she snarled, sounding so grumpy both men almost stepped back.

"Are you all right?", Aragorn asked as he studied her face with a frown. "Legolas told me you sounded rather upset this morning."

She huffed and walked to another table where the food was set out for her and the others. There were apples, some slices of bread and… well, that was it actually.

"Oh, I'm totally fine," she said, the words drenched with sarcasm and sounding cynical, as she stuffed her pack with the food and didn't look up to them. "Just started my menstruation cycles on the day we're leaving for a six-day journey, that's all."

The man's and Elf's eyes widened, a bit startled by the words she'd spoken as if they were nothing. No women spoke about their monthly cycles and she'd just talked about it like it was the most normal thing on earth.

Emery felt their gaze and looked up. She saw the surprised men and her brows formed a suspicious frown. "What now?", she said annoyed. She never understood why men were always so surprised or startled when a woman talked about her period. It was a part of their life, why couldn't men accept that?

Aragorn bowed his head and smiled awkwardly. "Forgive us," he said, "sometimes I forget how downright and… blunt you can be."

Emery frowned even more, but decided not to speak further about it and went back to organizing her packs. She clasped her bedroll back to her pack and closed it. She turned to the man and the Elf once again.

"Where are the others?", she asked, ignoring their gazes.

"They are in the stables, preparing their horses for the journey," Aragorn said, "you should do the same. We leave in less than half an hour."

She walked towards the door when she heard the Elf whisper.

"I fear her more than the Uruks."

She walked through the door and shouted: "I heard that!"

Emery patted Amir between his eyes and the stallion snorted, bobbing his head to her hand with affection. She smiled at the horse. Who would've thought? Emery Liliath, a singing kick-boxing girl, growing to love horses? Before this, she'd never ridden on a horse; and now she was very fond of the beautiful animals.

Her mood was changing every moment, and right now her annoyance and frustration were gone.

She held the reins in her hands as she walked out of the stables, leading Amir, alongside Merry and Pippin with their ponies. They chattered, and Emery listened with an amused smile.

"It's certainly sad that it isn't winter", Merry said and Emery turned to him, surprised. She gave him a questioning look. Winter was her least favorite season. Well, after Autumn. Autumn was depressing.

"In Lórien, it's like there is no such thing as winter," Pippin added dreamy, "since the trees protect you from the cold, and the leaves do not fall, but turn gold."

The two Halflings sighed at the thought of the Elven Realm. They clearly missed the place, Emery could easily see. It looked like everyone was excited to get there again, only Faramir seemed a little nervous- maybe he hadn't been there before.

"My mother might be there, so perhaps I'll see the golden leaves anyway", she said happily, but inside, she was nervous.

"I hope you will find your mother, lady Emery," Pippin said, "and I hope Ava is well. She is really nice."

Emery smiled and let out a chuckle. "Yes she is," she said with a smile, which turned sad, "I miss her."

"My lady! Emery", she heard and turned around to see Gloriël walking quickly towards her.

"You forgot this," she said and held out her hair band, "First I did not know what it was, but then I remembered it was around your wrist and you used it for your hair sometimes. So I figured it must be handy for you."

Emery smiled and took it out of her hands. "Thank you," she said. _Oh fuck it_ , she thought and gave her friend a hug. "I'm gonna miss you, Gloriël", she whispered and felt Gloriël hug her back after being startled for a brief second.

"Thank you for being my friend, Lady Emery", Gloriël said and Emery waved her hand. "Emery," she said, "just Emery."

After saying goodbye, she climbed on her horse. The Company was complete, she only saw Aragorn still talking to king Éomer. As if the King could feel her gaze, Éomer looked up at her. His eyes went up and down, probably looking at her clothes. Then, he gave her a firm, but friendly nod and said goodbye to the Gondorian king.

The horses were trotting, and Emery looked around. It had been seven hours since they left Edoras and they were surrounded by flat fields. First, Emery enjoyed looking around, but soon she figured that Rohan's landscapes were very unilateral and pretty boring after seven hours riding in fields that looked all the same. They'd stopped only for lunch, which was nothing more than an apple.

The sun moved to the west, and finally, the sky began to darken. Aragorn called the group to a stop and everyone got off their horses. Soon, a fire was made by Faramir, and Legolas and Aragorn went to hunt some rabbits. Emery made a hot stew with potatoes- apparently Merry and Pippin had taken those as soon as the food was set out for them.

"Okay, what is it?", she asked impatiently at the men who were all toying with their food hesitantly instead of eating it. Gimli grunted. "Why don't you ask Aragorn, eh?"

She turned to Aragorn, who seemed caught off guard by hearing his name.

"We have a sort of… trauma with stew", Aragorn explained, and Emery frowned.

"What, you were nearly killed by it?", she said cynically, now with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head and stirred with his spoon. "That warrior, we talked about her at the feast, she could fight, but she could definitely not cook."

Faramir chuckled. "She can still not cook."

Emery's face softened and she grinned. "Well, I _can_ cook, so eat up. And don't you lie to me if it's uneatable, I'm always in for improvement."

As the sun went down, the Company talked more for a while, but Emery mostly listened. She was still a bit surprised how easygoing and nice the men were. Even the always grumpy looking Dwarf was somewhat nice to her. Merry and Pippin always tried to make conversations with her, and Emery enjoyed chatting with them. She could also easily talk to Aragorn after their talk yesterday. Faramir talked to her now and then, but only in group conversations. The Elf however, didn't really talk to her in the evenings; not in group conversations nor private. She sometimes caught his gaze, but then quickly diverted her eyes from him.

Often she wondered why these men were together; and why they were moving with such haste. Did they have some sort of mission? They didn't talk about what they were doing at all, at least, not when Emery was with them.

She sighed and stood up, brushing off her vest from dirt and dust. "I think I'm calling it a night", she said and wished the rest goodnight. Merry and Pippin went to sleep too. She grabbed her bedroll and lay it out on the ground. But she couldn't get asleep.

She stopped tossing and turning when she overheard another conversation. She opened her eyes and saw Faramir and Aragorn talking, further away from the campfire, which already was burning out.

"We know nothing of the enemy so far," she heard Faramir say, "the Orcs only look angry because of Sauron's defeat. I see no sign of a new leader."

"That is why we go to Lothlórien," Aragorn explained, "perhaps Lady Galadriel knows of something."

"The Lady of Light. I have never seen her in my entire life."

She could hear Aragorn smile. "She is beautiful, and powerful. She shall know what we can do against this unknown threat."

Emery frowned. So this was their mission. The Dark Lord had been destroyed, but there was a new threat? Did they have to find out what or who this threat was?

She wanted to hear more of the conversation, but exhaustion caught up with her and she closed her eyes at last.

Emery opened her eyes and sat upright. Everyone was asleep but one person. Faramir was keeping watch, his back turned to Emery. He seemed deep in thought, so she decided not to join him. Faramir was a nice man, but also quiet. Actually, all the men were the rather quiet type, except for the Hobbits. And the Dwarf. They always had something to say.

From her own spot, she watched the break of dawn, and the sun rose higher and higher. Slowly, the others woke up as well. Emery ate a small slice of bread and watched as the Hobbits cooked breakfast. She didn't want warm breakfast anymore, she wasn't really hungry. To her surprise, she hadn't had stomachache this night, which was rare.

Again, they rode off. Apparently they were in the West Emnet, an area between the river Entwash and the Misty Mountains. The day was less boring then the day before; Merry and Pippin were good at entertaining the others.

"I'm faster than you, Pip, accept it", Merry said cocky. Pippin snorted.

"No, I'm faster," he argued and suddenly turned to Emery, "lady Emery, you saw that, didn't you?"

Emery lifted her shoulders and dropped them, and laughed when Pippin pulled a face.

"How about we compete now, lady Emery?", Merry asked. Emery smiled. "I don't think that would be fair, Merry, since my horse is much bigger than yours."

"Then I will compete against you."

She turned her face to see Legolas. He had steered his horse closer to hers and now rode beside her. Emery felt a challenge rising by seeing his grin and chuckled. She knew she probably wasn't as good as Legolas, since she had only learned five weeks ago. But she knew the basics, and she was a fast learner.

"Challenge accepted", she said and with that, she tossed the reins.

Amir started to gallop, as fast as the horse could. She'd already been riding close to the front, so she only had to avoid Aragorn and his horse. She laughed to herself, knowing she wasn't playing fair, but she'd probably lose anyway. She had no idea how long she'd been riding in gallops, but when she looked back after a while, she saw the blonde Elf coming close fast. His horse was obviously faster than Amir, and she incited her horse to go faster.

"Come on, Amir!", she shouted. She felt him speed up and smiled. She loved this. She felt nothing but the wind in her hair and their speed across the fields. She wanted to capture this moment with all her heart.

A few seconds later the Elf appeared next to her, but he didn't bother to surpass her. He just smirked, and eventually they slowed down.

"I think I would have won", Legolas stated confidently.

"But you didn't," Emery said nonchalantly, "you could have, if you wouldn't have stayed beside me."

He frowned. "You did not play fair."

Emery snorted. "Well, yeah," she blurted, "but I'm under different circumstances." She placed a hand on her belly, meaning her period and the aches- which she didn't have at the moment but he didn't need to know. He laughed. It was a nice laugh; soft and pleasant, she would like to hear it more often.

"Then we call it a truce", he said with a smile.

Emery pulled a serious face and nodded, but her mask fell off quickly and she laughed. She looked behind her and saw the others in the distance.

Suddenly she felt something. It was an uncomfortable and unpleasant wave rushing through her body. She looked beside her and saw Legolas looked tense as well. They both pulled their horses to a stop and he looked at her.

"You feel it as well?", he asked. Emery nodded, a bit confused how he knew and what it meant. His eyes scanned their location and Emery did the same, not knowing what they were looking for. The next moment, the others had caught up with them, Aragorn looking at both of them with an amused smile. But when he saw their faces and their stiff posture, he grew concerned.

"What is it, Legolas?", he asked and the Elf turned his horse around. Emery did the same.

"Something draws near," he said and kept scanning their surroundings, "I can feel it. We both feel it." Aragorn turned to Emery who nodded.

"I can't explain it," she said, "maybe we should keep moving." Legolas looked at her, with a look on his face she couldn't quite explain. He looked a bit confused, and perhaps even surprised. Maybe he was surprised that she'd given an order or something. Aragorn nodded and a short time later, the horses were in gallops.

The unpleasant feeling had stayed the whole time. A formation had been created; Legolas and Aragorn ahead, Faramir and Gimli behind them and then Merry and Pippin with her. It seemed ages before they finally stopped. Emery dismounted Amir and felt her muscles scream in pain and soreness. She sat down to get a fire going with Faramir and ate a little of the cooked potatoes.

God, how she missed pasta. Spaghetti, macaroni, tagliatelle, tortellini; she missed it all. _Chocolate!_ She missed chocolate. She wondered if they had that here. Or at least cocoa.

"Legolas, will you go on first watch?"

Aragorn's question made Emery jump out of her daydreaming and she looked up to see Aragorn planning the shifts.

"I can take watch too", she heard herself asking.

Aragorn turned to her and shook his head. "No, you need rest."

She huffed and wrinkled her nose. "What, because I'm a woman?"

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again.

"I'm traveling with you guys, so I think it's only logical that I will go on watch too," she said confidently, "besides, I don't think I'll find much sleep tonight anyways." She looked around in the dark cautiously, still not able to put a finger on the feeling.

"Fine," he sighed, "then you will go first, then me, Gimli, Faramir and after him Legolas."

Everyone agreed and Emery just shrugged. She walked to her bedroll where her bow and quiver lay. She put them over her shoulder and walked towards a spot a bit further than the rest. The terrain was flat, and apparently good karma still existed since they had found a place with big rocks to rest. She climbed up a rock, feeling she did it more skillful and diligent then she normally could. There she had a good view of the plains. It was a lot more boring than she'd expected actually, but she guessed it must have been a good thing.

After what must've been about an hour, but felt like ages, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned her head to see Aragorn standing beside her, trying to balance on the rock.

"Your shift is over," he said, "rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."

"All the days are long," she murmured and yawned. "Anyways, have fun staring."

She climbed down the big rock and walked to her bedroll, almost collapsing down on it and fell in an uneasy sleep.

When she woke, it was still dark. She thanked the Valar for her keen eyes; she always hated it to wake up in the dark, not being able to see anything. She looked around. Gimli lay snoring, just like the Hobbits. Faramir was stirring in his sleep, tossing and turning. Aragorn was sleeping rather contently, but she knew better. No one could sleep well on this hard ground.

Only Legolas was missing, and she figured he was on watch. He was the last one, so it probably was close to dawn. The third day of their journey had arrived and she was coming closer to meeting her mother and seeing Ava again each passing minute. She pulled her knees to her chest and folded her arms around them. She watched the dawn in silence, not wanting to disturb or _be_ disturbed.

And _again_ , she mounted her horse, her muscles hurting even more than before. Emery yawned, still tired after her uncomfortable sleep. She ignored the annoying and unpleasant feeling, but soon noticed it just kept dwelling up.

The Company followed Aragorn. Their pace was slow, as it always was in the beginning of the day. The landscape had changed; there were hills and more stones and rocks around them. After a while Legolas came to ride beside her. She held her hand up.

"No horse riding competition today, prince", she said, sounding weary.

"Leave the royal status out, please", he said with a frown.

Emery chuckled. "Why, you don't like being royalty?"

He didn't answer, and Emery wanted to ask more but thought better than to push further.

"Well, then I'll have to call you Blondie", she said with a playful grin.

He smiled at her, but said nothing and turned his head away. Emery followed his gaze and saw they were approaching a forest. They were actually pretty close, maybe less than two kilometers. That probably was… _Ugh, what was it called again?_ Fa… Fon…

"We are nearing Fangorn Forest", he said as if he read her mind.

"Are we going through it?"

He shook his head. "No," he said, "that is too dangerous, we are going around."

"What is so dangerous about a forest?", she asked him with a frown.

But she never got an answer, because suddenly, the lingering unpleasant feeling rushed through her body, as if sending her a warning signal. It was a cold, yet hot feeling, that made her shiver to her spine. She looked around, almost shocked. Legolas seemed to feel exactly the same.

Then, something whistled through the air. Before she could look around to see what it was, Legolas had disappeared from her side and rode to the front, to Aragorn. She looked around, when more things flew through the air.

"An ambush!", she heard Aragorn scream.

Then she realized the flying things were arrows; arrows of Orcs.

 _Shit!_ she thought and panicked. The Orcs appeared from behind the rocks and over the hills, and she saw Legolas had dismounted his horse. He ran up a hill, and Emery was awfully reminded of the first attack.

Amir was starting to panic as well, and quickly she slid off of him. She stood on the ground, instantly feeling smaller and more vulnerable.

"Emery!", she heard and turned to Legolas, who gestured her to come join him, since she only had her bow as her weapon. Her bow was already over her shoulder, as was her quiver, and she felt adrenaline rising inside of her.

She was about to run up the hill when she heard an Orc running towards her. Acting on instinct, she grabbed an arrow out of her quiver and used it to stab the filthy creature.

Unfortunately she wasn't in a movie, and she wasn't a good warrior either, so she missed when the Orc dodged. It had a long, sharp blade in his hand and a wide, mean grin on his face. The monster swung his sword, and Emery sprang back. She was in a great disadvantage; she didn't have a sword to defend herself.

But then she thought of something. She almost smacked her hand on the forehead. How stupid! Why hadn't she thought of it before? Emery gritted her teeth, and furrowed her brows in anger. He raised his sword above his head, and she almost laughed at the Orc's stupidity. It was actually giving her time. In these long, but few seconds, Emery placed her feet shoulder-width apart, and her right side behind her leg. She made sure she stood diagonally from her opponent, all this in only three seconds.

Right before he was about to swing the sword down to her, Emery lifted her back leg and kicked the Orc in its stomach. Hard. It stumbled back, dropping its sword in surprise. But Emery wasn't quite done yet. She grabbed the filthy creature by its shoulders and pushed it down to its knees. With a growl she threw a knee against his chin, and she could actually hear the Orc's jaw break. The Orc fell to the ground, unconscious.

She stepped back and brushed herself off. She looked at her hands in disgust; Emery had _touched_ this ugly, monstrous creature. "Yuck", she mumbled and wiped off her hands with her vest.

She quickly looked around. The others were too busy with surviving on their own. She heard her name being called again, and ducked just in time to avoid being torn in the stomach by another Orc's sword.

"Emery!"

It was Legolas, and she turned around to see him throw a blade at her. It was one of the two blades he always wore on his back, and it wasn't as long as the sword the Orcs were using. Quickly she picked it up. She held it out in front of her, but the Orc just laughed at her. Now what was she going to do with this? _Defend yourself, dumbass!_

The Orc attacked again, and Emery held her blade diagonally in front of her. The blades clung and she pushed the Orc's sideways with her own. Quickly, she pulled her blade apart from the other and swung it in its direction, slicing its chest open. The Orc stood there for three seconds, gawking at Emery, and then fell to the ground, lifeless.

If Emery didn't know better she would've dropped the blade to the ground, surprised by herself. _Well, that was easy_ , she thought, far too soon. Another Orc cried out as he charged against her and Emery sprung sideways, struggling to hold her balance.

Her grip tightened around the hilt and she swung back with all speed and strength, the picture of Ava lying against a tree with that ugly cut in her arm popping up inside her head. Anger and determination replaced her fear and insecurity when the third Orc fell back to the ground.

After a few more slain Orcs, larger creatures showed up.

"Uruk-Hai", she breathed heavily as she watched them walk down the hill as if they owned the place.

"Come here ye little Uruks," she heard Gimli shout, "you aren't that big, eh!"

If it had been under different circumstances, Emery would've laughed, but they were quite the opposite of little. The Uruks were twice the size of the Dwarf and two heads bigger than her, while she was long for the average girls.

She put her blade in her quiver, but made sure she could easily pull out her arrows. She grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow. _Come on, Em_ , she thought, _you've done this before. You can do it again_.

Her bow was drawn, and she did her best to not let her arm shake. She aimed for the Uruk straight in front of her. She focused on its neck, and her keen eyes penetrated her target. She let loose of her arrow, and it pierced a little lower than its neck. Still, it wasn't bad. She watched him fall down to the ground and then ran uphill to Legolas.

"That was a good shot", he said, not looking at her, but at the many Uruk-hai and Orcs. This didn't look like a normal ambush. There were too many for such a thing. What was happening?

Emery nocked another arrow, but before she could draw her bow, Legolas put his hand on it, making her lower it. She turned to him and frowned. He was looking to his left. She followed his gaze, realizing he was looking at what was called Fangorn Forest.

"Legolas! Emery!", a voice called. They looked down to see Aragorn pointing to the forest. "We make for Fangorn!"

Legolas immediately moved, slashing Orcs along the way with his one blade. It took a while before Emery could move as well, and did the same. The first Orc to stand in her way was kicked violently in the chest and sliced open after that. The next one she dodged by ducking down. She slid over the ground and cut his legs. The ground was slippery and only then she realized she had slid down in Orc blood. She pulled a face of disgust and stood back up quickly, ready to attack the next one.

 _Dodge, swing, slash._

 _Dodge, swing, slash._

Emery had picked up a rhythm. She kept fighting, sometimes with ease, but mostly she had a hard time doing so. She managed to keep her mind clear and to only act out on survival instinct and she made sure she kept the rhythm going, repeating the words in her head. Sometimes she glanced sideways to see Aragorn fight with such aggression and fierce she almost got scared of _him_ instead of the Orcs attacking her. On her other side, Legolas fought, moving smoothly as he killed Orc after Uruk. Sometimes she mirrored his movements, but she was getting tired and weary.

She had no idea how long they'd been fighting, but finally the forest edge grew closer and closer. Eventually they had ran past the Orcs, and weirdly enough, they hadn't followed them. As fast as she could, she sprinted to the edge of the forest, only the collapse on the ground in exhaustion when she got there.

 _"_ _Dude, you killed it out there!"_

 _She smiled and turned to the sea. She felt the sea breeze through her already wet hair and took in the scent of the sea foam. The waves here in South Africa were always perfect, but…_

 _"_ _I don't know, Thom," she said as she chewed her lip, "I haven't had_ the _wave yet."_

 _She adjusted her position, holding her surf board in one arm. She heard her brother chuckle._

 _"_ _You always look for_ the _wave, sis," he said as he clapped his hand on her back and ran back into the sea. "Just be patient and it'll come!"_

 _She watched him get into the water and paddle away. Emery grinned and followed him, running into the water._

 _Emery caught up with him quickly; which made sense since she'd started surfing way before he did. Still, Thomas picked up the skill very fast, becoming almost as advanced as she was._

 _She paddled next to him and smirked when she saw the development of what would become a great wave. She paddled faster with her arms, pushing her board underwater as a smaller wave came towards her. Underwater, she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the water stroke her face. These were the small moments where she felt at peace. Nothing but the soothing water surrounding her, which could be calm and wild at the same time._

 _When she came back up again, she blinked and saw she had passed her brother._

 _"_ _Don't you steel my wave, Em!", he shouted from behind her, but Emery already had her mind set on that one wave. This was_ it _. This was the wave. She grinned and when she felt it was time, she turned her board around and started paddling as fast as she could. She felt the water speed her up, and the next moment she was standing on her surf board._

 _Many surfers talked about 'defying the wave', but Emery looked at it in a different way. She liked to imagine her being_ one _with the wave, letting it take her back to the shores._

 _She felt total control over her surf board and she flowed along with the wave. She was oblivious to everything around her; it was just her hand the wave._

 _Suddenly, in the distance, she heard shouts. The shouts grew louder, but she didn't hear what they were saying. She lost control over her board and fell in the water. Somehow, she hit her head against the pointed end of her board. Gasping for air she came back up, gurgling and trying not to swallow the salt water in her mouth._

 _Then, she could hear the shouting clearer. Her stomach dropped and she paralyzed when she heard the single syllable words._

 _"_ _WHITE! WHITE SHARK!"_

 _Before she knew it, Emery was pulled underwater. She felt… well , she couldn't explain the feeling in her legs; but it was painful. Extremely painful. She screamed, but forgot she was underwater. She tried to swim back to the water surface, but she was stuck._

 _To her horror, she knew it was the shark. The shark had bit her in her leg, and it would be eating her alive if she wouldn't pull away_ now _! Instinct flushed through her and she kicked the shark's nose with her other, free leg. She didn't have the heart to look down at the Great White, but she felt the grip around her leg loosen._

 _She shook him off, came back up and as fast as she could she swam to her surf board. She climbed on it and paddled. With all her strength she paddled; only the thought of escaping the beast on her mind._

 _Where were the coast guards? Why didn't they help her?_

 _She let out a scream when she felt her surf board disappear beneath her. She was back in the water, only this close to dying. She swam as fast as she could. The shore wasn't far away anymore, and she only had to reach the shallow waters to shake it off._

 _All the Gods on Earth were with her when she finally felt the sand beneath her and she wanted to stand up to walk out of the water, but fell down. She crawled, the water not coming higher than her knees if she'd stand, becoming aware of the pain that was throbbing in her left leg._

 _She ducked her head, chin against her chest to look at her leg. She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head at the sight of the big, bloody bite mark in her tibia. Her arms failed to support her and she felt the water splash against her face. Just a second later she felt hands pull her out of the water, but she was already fading into the darkness. In the far distance, she heard the familiar voice of her brother._

 _"_ _Emery? Emery, stay awake, you hear me?"_

 _"_ _Emery?"_

"EMERY!"

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. The black spots faded away and she could see a figure in front of her in the twilight. The figure was tall, but was leaning over her, and he had dark hair, shoulder length. He snapped his fingers in front of her face and suddenly she widened her eyes.

"Shark!", she gasped as she sat upright and the man in front of her frowned. His grey eyes were the first things to bring her back to reality.

It was Aragorn. She sighed and leaned back to the tree. She remembered it. The Orc attack. She looked around, not seeing the plains behind the trees anymore. They were deeper in the woods, and the Orcs were nowhere to be seen.

"You were out for quite some time", he said and now Emery frowned confused.

The trees were big, and she looked up to where the crowns of the trees were, high in the sky. "How…" she stammered, but Aragorn squeezed her shoulder and shook his head as a gesture to stay quiet.

"You were unconscious for a few hours, perhaps four or five, so we decided to go further, even if that meant carrying you."

* * *

 **Well, that was it!**

 **What'd you think?**

 **Liked the flashback?**

 **Thought Emery was badass during the Orc attack?**

 **Let me know in the REVIEWSSSS! Thank youuu**

 **-xoxo-**


	14. Trees and Trees

**CHAPTER XIV – Trees and Trees**

 **Hello everyone!**

 **Another chapter for you guys. It was hard to write, and I had many moments where I'd be staring at my laptop screen in front of me.**

 **But, here it is and I hope you'll enjoy it!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's work.**

* * *

 _I am not from this world._

No. No, that sounded weird and it wasn't true. She was born here after all.

 _I grew up in another world._

Ugh, no something else. That sounded stupid. Maybe another way to announce it.

 _I'm not who you think I am._

God, no. That sounded too dramatic.

Emery shook her head. How was she ever going to explain this? It was impossible to bring this up in a normal way. She'd been traveling with the Company for a while now, and she had difficulty keeping her secret from the men. They deserved to know, even though Gandalf had told her not to say anything about it. But she noticed the men were becoming wary of her and her strange behavior; she had heard them saying it themselves back in Edoras.

Telling them had crossed her mind many times, but every time she had thought of an opening sentence, she thought it sounded stupid by second thought.

It was the first night in this strange forest, and Emery was on first watch. She'd offered it when she noticed the others looked rather weary. Not that she was any less tired than the men, but she simply knew she wouldn't be able to sleep this night.

The images of the monstrous creatures kept lingering in her mind. It was the least she'd expected. She thought her mind would be tormented by the Orcs who had tried to kill _her_ , not the other way around. It was hard to believe that she had actually killed them. It was murder, homicide, no matter the fact that they were the bad guys.

Emery kept telling herself that they were. She had read about their attacks on villages. She knew how they had killed every man, woman and even child. They even raped the women, before killing them off ruthless.

But still. She had killed the Orcs just as ruthless. She hadn't even thought about it; she had followed her instinct. But wasn't that the difference? Those monsters didn't kill on instinct, they killed because they wanted to, for sport, even if the victims hadn't done anything wrong. Emery had done it to defend herself, not out of furious hate. Or, was that furious hate there after all?

It was different when she killed them with her bow and arrow. That was from a distance, there was no physical contact at all. However with that blade, which she had given back to Legolas with shaky hands as soon as she had woken up, she had come so much closer. The Orcs were no more a _target_. They had been the enemy. And the enemy had to die.

She stiffened when she heard a deep, grumbling sound. It sounded like a groan, but it definitely was inhuman, and it didn't come from an Elf, Dwarf or the Hobbits.

Emery looked around, narrowing her eyes as she tried to focus on her hearing as well. Everyone seemed to sleep through the sounds she'd been hearing during her shift. They looked peacefully, obviously feeling at ease here.

Emery was feeling anything but. This forest had such a weird aura, and she didn't know if she liked this or not. Probably the latter.

Deep in thought she plucked the blades of grass, brows furrowed in a frown. Why did she feel like the others knew something about this place she didn't?

When hearing another groan that sounded like it was right behind her, she looked around once more. She sprang up, noticing one of the bedrolls was empty. Her eyes scanned over the Company. It was the bedroll of-

She caught the sound of something so soft that she knew exactly who it was.

"Legolas", she muttered under her breath, but rolled her eyes before she spun around.

"That might be the best reaction I have ever received for sneaking up on you, if I recall", he grinned, blue eyes twinkling in the dark.

She chuckled softly. "You're right," she said, "but that doesn't change the fact you _were_ sneaking up on me."

"That is true," he smiled, "I apologize."

Emery shook her head. "No apologies needed."

Her shoulders tensed upon hearing another sound coming out of the deep, dark forest. Emery shivered and put her arms around herself, feeling like they were being watched.

"I don't like this place", she whispered.

He looked at where the rumbling came from, but not with a worried look on his face as Emery had.

"I once felt the same, Emery," he said, turning to her again with a smile. "But now I know there is nothing to fear."

She tilted her head, curious for his elaboration.

"What do you feel?", Legolas asked her. Now she looked at him confused. What did he mean by that?

Then she remembered something Gandalf had said once, back in Minas Tirith: ' _Elves are lovers of nature. And by that I do not just mean that they are the type who just like the outdoors. They_ bond _with the nature. They_ sense _the nature. And last of all, they_ unite _with nature.'_

She sighed and looked at the trees in front of her, not in fear or agony anymore, but with curiosity. Emery closed her eyes, not sure what to do and feeling a bit awkward as she felt Legolas watching her. She tried to relax, rolled her shoulders and focused on the forest's scent. It took some seconds before she could surrender herself to the woods.

She smiled. The scent reminded her of her Spring Break two years ago, when she was in Northern California with her family. She always loved the forests, just like she loved the water.

Actually, she loved _nature_. Quite the coincidence. You'd think.

The scent of leaves and grass and the wood of the trees filled her nose, overwhelming her. It was unlike any forest; much more vivid. It was like she could smell what had occurred here from the beginning to now. She could smell the rain that had let the trees grow and had washed away the dirt, purifying these woods. She could catch the scent of summer, the sun shining on the forest- whatever the smell of the sun might be.

But then something changed. The smell became unpleasant. It reminded her of the smell of factories and machines. She frowned, but kept her eyes closed.

It was the smell of metal. However, she didn't only _smell_ things anymore; she _felt_ things. She winced when she felt something slash inside her. The realization hit her. The forest was being cut down! She couldn't do anything. She wanted to scream, a wave of pain and fear filling her body.

The feeling became so unpleasant that she almost wanted to open her eyes. Almost. But before she could, it began to change again. Everything began to change. A certain emotion rushed through her, just like it rushed through the forest.

Anger. Maybe even fury. As if the remaining trees were angry at the ones who had cut the woods down. And out of that fury came determination. Flashes of images flew before her eyes. It was confusing, but somehow Emery understood every last bit of it.

Finally, out of the determination came… victory.

Emery's eyes flew open, pulled back into reality. She breathed heavily and gasped when she looked at the forest now. It was like she finally saw what had been hiding behind the curtain. Her eyes darted from tree to tree, and eventually fell back on the blonde Elf. He smiled upon seeing the look on her face. It was a look of surprise, perhaps even amazement, and wonder.

"What do you feel?", he asked her again.

She frowned, thinking deeply. "I feel…" she started, and lowered her head. She wanted to say victory, but that wasn't what she felt. Because even though they had won that… battle, she felt more was coming. It was… "premonition."

He frowned at her in turn, confused, waiting for her to explain. Emery looked back up at him, a look of shock on her face. "It's hard to explain," she stammered, "it's like, I know everything about the history of this forest even though I haven't been here before. And now that they've won this certain march, I feel this forest is waiting for a new battle." She paused, debating her words, and then whispered, "maybe even a new _war_."

Emery ate her breakfast in silence, thinking about the weird experience of last night. She hadn't closed an eye after it, too tensed to sleep. After what she'd said about the forest, Legolas had done the same. He had closed his eyes like she had done, but after three seconds he had opened them again. "You are right", he had said. She didn't know why, but she had a weird feeling about this. No longer was she scared in the forest. The only thing that had irritated her was the thick air in the woods, but that was it.

It was a long day. She had no idea how long they'd been walking when they stopped for a quick break. Only when the night fell again she plumped down on the ground, leaning against a tree. Dinner was again the same; sausages and tomatoes. She ate little of it, though she was hungry. She didn't talk a lot with the others, and Aragorn noticed she was quieter than usually.

"How are you faring, Emery?"

She looked up, a little surprised by the voice in the silence.

"I'm fine, I guess", she answered. Aragorn looked at her, like he didn't believe a word of it. he sighed. "Maybe you shouldn't go on watch tonight", he said. Emery looked up, about to protest. But she knew he was right. She was tired, _exhausted_ actually. She nodded and walked to her bedroll. Before she knew it, she fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, she immediately knew it was early. As in, before dawn early. She yawned, stretched and stood up, brushing herself off. She looked around. Everyone was still asleep. Legolas was on last watch, as always. _Shit_ , she thought be herself. He'd probably already heard her.

Still, that didn't stop her from walking a little further away from the Company. She made her way through the woods, but made sure the place where the others were sleeping was still visible. She looked back, to make sure the blonde Elf wasn't sneaking up on her as he always did, and almost walked into a tree. She looked up. _That is one hell of a big tree_. She grinned as she inspected its branches. The first branch was pretty low. If she jumped, she would easily reach it.

She jumped, and her hands grasped the branch. With a smooth, Elvish movement she swung her legs over the branch. Her face down to the ground, she almost fell when she saw Legolas beneath her.

"God dammit, Legolas!", she almost yelled, "and here I thought I was cautious enough, looking back in case I was being followed."

He smiled in amusement. "I was on watch, Emery. It is my task to look after the Company", he said, but instead of turning around to go back to his shift, he stayed there, looking up to Emery.

She frowned. "Shouldn't you keep watch then?", she asked suspicious. He shook his head. "I woke Aragorn."

Emery nodded and looked up at the tree. She spotted another branch that was easy for her to reach from here. Just when she was about to jump, Legolas spoke up.

"Perhaps it is better to stay on the ground instead of in trees," he said, "at least, in this forest."

She shrugged and jumped anyways. She reached branch after branch, and rambled along the way. "I've always loved climbing trees. I don't know why, I always did that as a child. My brother Thomas and I always played games and pretended to be monkeys. It's stupid, but gosh, what fun we had. My mother didn't like it that I was so 'adventurous' though. She was always scared I would fa-"

A loud rumbling was heard and it caught Emery of guard. She didn't fall though, but that changed when she suddenly saw two eyes staring at her. She shrieked and her hands weren't holding the branches anymore. She heard Legolas calling her name as she fell down, but before she hit the ground, someone caught her. Or rather, some _thing_.

Before she knew what happened, she was held by an enormous hand, and she found herself looking at a tree with… eyes?!

She was about to scream for help when she heard Legolas' voice.

"Emery," he said calmly, "stay quiet and do not move."

She looked down and saw a tiny blonde Elf standing on the ground. She was high above it and a weird squeak escaped her mouth. She was never afraid of heights, but this… was under different circumstances.

She looked back up at the tree.

"Boom-bara-boom, what do we have here?", a low voice said. Emery blinked and said nothing for ten seconds.

"L-Legolas," Emery stammered in fear, "the tree… it TALKS!"

The tree chuckled. _What the fucking fuck?_

"Why, of course I talk," he boomed, "I am an Ent. But tell me, young Elleth, what may I call you?"

Emery couldn't believe it. A tree- or Ent, had just ASKED her name. She was TALKING to a tree.

"I'm E-Emery," she stammered, still stuck in the Ent's tight grip. "C-Could you perhaps let go of me? My friend is down there." _I can't believe I'm asking a fucking tree to let me go._

"Are you not interested in my name?", the Ent asked.

She wanted to shake her head furiously, but figured she should be nice to the Ent. _Heh._ He had saved her from a nasty fall after all. "Of course I am, Mr. Tree, I apologize. I was simply caught off guard by seeing a tree with eyes", she said, the words drenched with sarcasm. She heard a chuckle and looked down to see the whole Company was watching how she was talking to a tree.

"Not funny, Aragorn", she said, rolling her eyes.

"Treebeard!", she heard Pippin call happily. The trees eyes widened and he looked down as well.

"Ah," he sighed lowly, "my dear Hobbits, Merry and Pippin." His other hand picked the two up, and the Hobbits didn't struggle like Emery had.

"Your name is Treebeard?!", Emery asked with a frown. She looked next to her at the Hobbits. Merry nodded cheerfully. "Yes," he said, "we have met him before, haven't we Treebeard?" The tree nodded- she didn't know how, but he did it.

"Thank you", Emery muttered as she was put down on the ground.

"Tell us, Treebeard," Aragorn said as he stepped forward and looked up to the tree, "why are you and the other Ents waking up again?"

"Boom-bara-boom… Something is happening," Treebeard said, his voice low as a baritone, "all Ents feel it. Peace was upon us. Not anymore."

Emery felt her shoulders tense and noticed the others stiffened as well. What did he mean by that?

"What do you mean?", Aragorn asked with a frown.

"It is merely a presage, we Ents know nothing of it", the Ent answered. Emery frowned, and her eyes met the eyes of Legolas. So she was right after all; something was coming.

"We have to go to Lothlórien," Legolas said, turning to Aragorn, "as soon as possible."

Aragorn nodded. The Company said goodbye to Treebeard, Merry and Pippin even gave him a hug. Faramir looked at the scene oddly. Emery figured he hadn't seen an Ent before as well. After breakfast they took off, their pace had quickened now. Emery expected to grow tired, but she didn't get tired at all. She walked somewhere in the middle of the group, in front of the Hobbits, who were talking about who was better at fighting in battles.

"Hey, lady Emery?", she heard Merry behind her. She turned around and saw how they came to walk next to her. "Please, just Emery", she said, probably for the hundredth time. Merry nodded.

"I couldn't help but notice you fighting with that Orc back then," he said, "where did you learn to fight like that?"

Gimli turned around. "Aye, I saw it too," he said, "lass, you've got some power in those muscles." Emery laughed. "Why, thank you, Gimli," she said with a grin, "I didn't think I'd ever receive a compliment from you." The Dwarf grunted and was about to say something when Aragorn turned around too.

"No serious, Emery," Aragorn suddenly said as he looked back at her, "you seem pretty skilled at hand-to-hand combat. That is not so usual for a woman."

"It's called kickboxing."

She quickly put a hand over her mouth. "I mean, err… I call it kickboxing."

"What is kickboxing?", Pippin asked confused.

"It's… what I did. I just gave it a certain name. Kick, because you can use your legs and boxing because… because it sounds nice?" She huffed, that was the stupidest explanation of the meaning of the word. But she couldn't really explain how it worked, since… well, obviously because it wasn't something you'd come across here.

The Hobbits frowned, just like everyone who listened, but nodded anyway. "And I didn't have a sword to defend myself, so I thought I'd use my own weapon. It's not lethal though, he was only knock-out", she added and realized the others maybe didn't know that word. "Uhm, unconscious."

They walked further, and further and further, until finally, the trees weren't that close to each other anymore. Only half an hour later, the edge of the forest was visible. Emery sighed. "Finally", she muttered as she stepped in the high grass. She could see the blue sky again, the sun shining brightly. It was a little past noon and she grabbed an apple out of her pack.

After the short pause they walked further again. She missed Amir. What had happened to their horses? Had they escaped? Or were they killed by the Orcs? She almost dropped a tear. She always found it worse to see a horse die in a movie than a soldier. And now Amir was gone.

It wasn't long when she fell into pace next to Legolas. They didn't talk for a while, which didn't really matter. Finally, Legolas spoke up.

"I must say, I have seen very few Elleths fighting like you did," he said, earning a curious gaze. "Not even many Elves fight like that."

Emery shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "Why did you not fight like that during the first ambush? On our way to Edoras?", he asked.

She frowned, not knowing the answer to that question. "I don't really know," she said honestly, "maybe because I… forgot? It was the first time I'd been in an attack like that. I guess I thought the bow was better, but forgot about my real skills. And now, I guess I was just really, really angry. About what they did to Ava. The images of her sitting there against the tree, so injured, kept flashing through my mind."

He looked at her and smiled. "You are very brave, Emery."

She huffed. "No, I'm not. I'm anything but, believe me."

"I do not believe you."

She eyed him, and almost stopped walking. Suddenly she felt her cheeks grow warm and looked down at the ground, earning a curious gaze from the Elf.

"You know what I don't believe?", she muttered, and looked in front of her where another forest doomed up. "That I talked to a TREE several hours ago."

He shook his head and chuckled. "It was a funny sight I must say."

"Was it that funny for you to call the others?"

"You yelled so loud that they came running over here with concerned faces."

She snorted. "I don't think I'll ever climb in a tree again."

A little while later, Legolas was called by Aragorn and Emery was walking alone again. But she didn't mind. It gave her the opportunity to think. Actually, every time she was alone she would sink in thoughts. They varied from Ava to her mother to home to the Orcs. God, she was getting tired of them. She just wished she could put those thoughts in a box and to never come across them again.

"The woods of Lothlórien", Aragorn said right before they entered the forest.

"There aren't any talking or moving trees here, right?", Emery asked hesitantly.

"No," Aragorn chuckled, "and I do not think you are the only one to be relieved."

Emery noticed then Faramir seemed relieved just like her. She smiled at him before walking into the forest.

They had walked non-stop until dark, and then continued walking the next morning. Emery let out a long breath when Aragorn announced they'd have a brief break to eat something and rest. She dropped her rucksack and squatted to grab an apple. She squeaked when she felt something poking her chin. She looked up to see an arrow pointed straight to her throat.

"Erio." _Stand up/rise._

The Elf's voice was cold and his face was hard. Emery swallowed and raised her hands as a sign of peace. Like she was told, she stood up, facing the Elf. She didn't even have time to think about the fact she had understood what he said, because he forced her towards the others.

Emery felt her heart in her throat and tried to steady her breathing. She walked backwards until she bumped into Aragorn. He put his hands up as well and stepped forward. Another Elf stepped forward and with a small gesture, he ordered the Elf in front of Aragorn to lower his bow. The rest however, kept their strings taut, the arrows pointing straight between the members' eyes.

The Elf who had stepped forward was probably the leader or something, Emery figured. As she looked at each and every Elf surrounding them, she noticed their blank faces, not showing any empathy and emotions. Each kept glaring at their target, and so did the Elf in front of her.

She could spot a spark of recognition in the leader's eyes as he looked at the Company. His gaze rested on Faramir for a short second, and then it shifted to her. She could easily see how he tried to suppress the curiosity in his face, but still his brows quirked a little.

The Elf had blonde hair, though different than Legolas' hair. Where Legolas his hair was light blonde, sometimes even platinum in bright sun light she'd noticed, this Elf had golden hair. Actually, every Elf here had golden hair.

"Orophin," Aragorn spoke, "telim adh sîdh." _Orophin, we come with/in peace._

The Elf, whose name was Orophin apparently, looked at him cautiously. "This seems all too familiar, Estel", he said, suddenly shifting to Common Speech. She tilted her head a bit, watching him curiously. The only Elf she'd ever seen was Legolas- and herself in the mirror. Orophin stood stately; his chin high and his eyes looking down. _He should know better_ , Emery thought. Aragorn was a king after all.

"My Company requests to speak with the Lady of Light: lady Galadriel. It is urgent", the Gondorian king said.

The Elf gestured the other guards to lower their weapons, and Emery felt like she could breathe again when the Elf in front of her put his arrow back in his quiver, and swung his bow in a smooth movement over his shoulder.

"You are most welcome here," Orophin said and smiled at Aragorn. "My brother Rúmil and Celechon shall lead you into the woods. Go now, the Lady awaits you."

An Elf from the back and the Elf in front of her suddenly moved and began to walk. " _Hannon le_ ", she heard Aragorn say to Orophin. "Emery, move", he then said to her, gave her a gentle push and walked past her. She inhaled sharply and followed him and the Elves who was either Rúmil or Cele-thing.

They walked in silence, taking in their walked in line; Aragorn right behind the Elves, then Emery, Legolas, Gimli, the Hobbits and Faramir. Even though most of the Company had already seen the forests of Lothlórien before, its beauty still amazed them. Which was logical, because the woods were truly enchanting. Emery almost tripped when she looked around to notice that the trees were growing taller and bigger every step she took.

The two Elves walked in the front, leading them on. Emery looked up and saw some sort of platform in a tree. She frowned. Tree houses? Did the Elves live in trees? The further they walked, the more tree houses she spotted high in the trees. Sometimes there were more than one in a tree, sometimes just one bigger house.

She sighed. Emery had always wanted to live in a tree house for a week or so. How the view must be from up there! She recalled the moment her dad had made a small tree house for Thomas and her in their own tree in the backyard. Emery smiled. Those were fun times.

She tapped Aragorn on the shoulder. He looked back at her. "You've been here before right?" she asked him. He nodded. "How long do you think until we're there? Where is there actually?"

He smiled. "I do not know, Emery," he said, "Probably tomorrow, before noon."

She exhaled and rolled her eyes when he turned back around. Suddenly she felt light in her head and she almost tripped again. It was then when she heard things. Whispers, words, but she couldn't make them out.

 _"_ _You come here with a different purpose"_

Emery jumped and let out a squeak. She looked around, bug eyed. Who was that? Where was she? Her eyes darted from tree to tree, half expecting the woman to appear from behind one. But no one was there besides the Company and the two Elves, who were, by the way, all looking at her as if she was kooky. Only then she realized they stood still. She breathed heavily and looked at the others.

"Did you hear that?", she said with a tone of fear in her voice. Aragorn frowned and Legolas behind her tilted his head.

"I heard nothing, Emery", Legolas said. Emery frowned. But he's an Elf. He should've heard, right?

"I-It was a voice," Emery said haunted, "a feminine voice. How couldn't you have heard that? it was so clear!"

The others just looked at her, while the two Lórien Elves only grinned. They hid it well, but Emery narrowed her eyes at them.

"Never mind," she sighed, but still looked around wary. "Guess I imagined it."

The walked further, and Emery peered at the Elves in front of her. They were different than Legolas, though he was the only one she could compare Elves with. She couldn't exactly point out what this difference was, but it was there.

She looked back to see how the others were doing, but she looked straight in the face of Legolas. Not expecting him to be so close behind her, her shoulders quirked up in surprise and she gazed at him for a second to long. She quickly turned her head back around. _Wow, that was just… awkward_.

The Company reached a look-out point in the forest. Emery moved closer. She gasped at the sight of the big tree. It was enormous, with different platforms and stairs. She stood there in awe. This was where her mother lived, she realized. In a tree, somewhere in these woods. In the distance she heard Aragorn saying something about the center of Lothlórien to Faramir, but she didn't follow the rest. She was just too taken away by the view.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Legolas. "Come", he said and brushed past her. She nodded and walked after him.

Finally, the sky slowly became dark at last. She looked up at the sky, wishing she could climb up a tree to watch the sun set from high above the woods. God, that must be a magnificent view.

"If you wish, you can have supper here", one of the Elves said. The Company nodded and the Hobbits immediately made a fire to cook a tiny meal. Emery sat down against a tree, which didn't have a house in it. She looked up, and suddenly she couldn't resist it anymore. She stood up again and inspected the tree, ignoring the curious glances. _That's it!_ She jumped and reached for the lowest branch. With a smooth and skillful movement she lifted herself up and swung her left leg over the branch.

"Emery?"

She ignored Merry's call and straightened up, trying to hold her balance. She climbed to another branch, and another and another. When the branches became too fragile to stand on, she shifted to the stem to climb up.

When she reached the top, she knew she had picked the perfect tree. It was taller than the ones surrounding it, so she could she the sunset right from this spot. Her lips parted as she looked around. She could see he trees from above along the hills and the mountains that seemed to be so close, though many leagues away. And then, obviously, the beautiful colors that painted the sky. The little clouds had turned pink and red, and the once blue sky was now purple and indigo. She inhaled the fresh air through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She wished she could capture this very moment. Suddenly she wondered how many people would be jealous of her if she put a picture of this on Instagram. She chuckled and shook her head. _Put that thought out of your head, Em_.

A part of her still couldn't believe she was really here: in this strange world with Dwarfs and Hobbits- and Elves! She couldn't believe she was one of them. Sometimes she just forgot that little side note.

Today was the day she'd meet her mother. Her real mother, who was an Elleth. God, this was crazy for her! Her whole life turned upside down because she walked into that book store. She wondered what she would do once she found her. Would she stay here? Would she go back home? She hadn't given much thought about that yet, but it was difficult. She was with Ava after all. She couldn't just leave her alone; they were in this world together.

After she-didn't-know-how-many-minutes-or-hours, Emery sighed and moved down. The sky had turned dark and she had done enough star gazing. She had half expected to see the constellations she knew back home, but they weren't here in this sky. It was like she was on a different planet. Was the sun the same star as the star that shone on Earth?

She picked the branches cautiously, but the wild part of her brain wanted to try something new. She smirked to herself as she let herself fall. Before she fell with her back to another branch below, her hands reached for the branch she just stood on. She inhaled sharply when she hang there and before she could think of it, she swung to another branch.

With nothing more than the very soft thud of her feet hitting the ground, she landed back on the grass. She brushed off her hands and dusked off her tunic before eyeing Aragorn with a smile. He smiled at her in turn, amused.

Emery once more ignored the curious glances of the others and moved over to her bedroll, falling asleep with a content smile on her face.

When they took off once more after breakfast, it took four more hours before Emery spotted more people than themselves. She sighed in relief; this meant they were finally reaching their destination.

Her ears caught a conversation between one of the two Elves and Legolas and Aragorn. They were speaking softly in Sindarin.

" _I am merely a reserve, lord Aragorn,_ " the Elf said. " _Our Captain is seriously wounded._ "

Aragorn and Legolas nodded in understanding. " _By what, if I may ask?_ ", Legolas asked.

" _By Orcs,_ " the Elf answered. " _And Uruks. Many of them ambushed the edge of the forest during our night patrol three weeks ago. There were too many for the few of us. Too many for a regular ambush, if you ask me._ "

" _We were ambushed as well,_ " Aragorn said. " _We fled into the woods of Fangorn. There were numerous Uruk-hai and perhaps more than a hundred Orcs. It is contradict to what we expected, since many of them were wiped out at the defeat of Sauron._ "

Not willing to hear any more of the grim conversation, Emery drew her attention to the Hobbits, who were talking to Gimli. But before she could focus on what they were saying, they reached the giant tree they had seen from the look-out point. Actually, from here Emery could see that it wasn't _one_ giant tree, but more big trees very close to each other. Rúmil and Celechon led them to a tree which had a long staircase swirling around it. Emery looked up. _Damn, that's one hell of a staircase._

After more than seven-hundred steps– she had lost count after 785 and that was an hour ago, they reached the platform. There was a big hole in the middle, and broad stairs that led to another higher platform. It was beautiful, and the organic forms of the platform blended in with the nature surrounding it. _If I had a treehouse like this, I would live here not just for a week, but forever!_

As if knowing exactly what to do, Aragorn positioned himself right in front of the white steps. Legolas, Gimli– who looked like an excited little child, and the Hobbits followed and did the same. They formed one single line, and seemed to wait for something. Faramir and Emery exchanged glances, both a little awkward and hesitant. Finally they moved over, each an end of the line.

Suddenly, a blinding light appeared up the stairs. Emery blinked and squeezed her eyes to see what was behind it. As the light faded, two Elves walked down the steps. A man and woman, or rather; an Elf and an Elleth. Their hair were silver and golden and their skin was fair. Emery's lips parted as her gaze turned to the Elleth. She wore a white dress that made her glow as a star and her eyes were blue as the sea and sky. Her golden hair flowed in soft waves along her face and over her chest. Emery had never seen a woman like her. She was beyond beauty.

For a short second she reconsidered her sexuality, but that thought disappeared when her eyes rested on the Elf next to the Elleth. He was handsome, just like almost every Elf here. Where his wife's face was soft and fair, his features looked more rough. Not as rough as Aragorn or Éomer, but in Elven terms it would be rough. His hair was shorter than other Elves, but it was the brightest she'd ever seen. Though the Elleth had golden hair, his hair had the color of silver. Damn, these two made a power couple only by their looks!

The couple stopped walking halfway the steps, looking down at the Company, though not with arrogance. The Elleth looked at each member while her husband spoke.

"We meet yet again," he said with a melodious voice. "Though I fear under somewhat the same circumstances as before."

But Emery didn't listen to him. She heard another voice in her head. She looked up to see the Elleth's eyes piercing hers. She knew it was her voice.

 _"_ _You came with a different purpose."_

It was the same statement she had heard before in the woods. She felt her heart beat faster, bit her inner lip and ducked her head.

 _"_ _Do not fear, child. I know who you are, and I know your mother."_

Emery's head snatched up, glaring at the Elleth in front of her. How did she know?

When the Lady spoke aloud, Emery's attention was pulled back to what was going on.

"We were aware of your arrival," she said. "Mithrandir arrived here with a mortal only nine days ago."

Emery turned to the Lord, feeling his curious gaze on her. Her eyes darted between the Lord and Lady, still stunned by their appearance. Even the prettiest models on Earth didn't come near the beauty of the Elleth. Not even an Angel of Victoria's Secret. Sorry, but truth hurts.

"Today, you shall rest," the Lord said, looking at every member. "We shall discuss your arrival in the morrow."

And thus, the Company was dismissed. Emery hesitated. Should she ask for Ava? She was here somewhere after all. She looked back at the Lord and Lady.

"Uhm, excuse me," she said as she fully turned around. "I was wondering, the _mortal_ you spoke of earlier, she is a friend of mine. She was heavily injured. Is there a chance I can see her?"

The Lady smiled and walked towards her. "Of course, child," she answered with her beautiful voice. "Edeneth shall lead you to her chamber. She is faring well, you need not worry."

Emery smiled and thanked her. Before she could turn around, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I wish to speak to you before supper, lady Emery", the Lady said, but her face had gone serious and more blank. Emery nodded a bit surprised, and then turned to follow the handmaiden Edeneth.

She followed her through the halls. Edeneth too had golden hair, just like every other Elves they passed. Emery tried to ignore the curious glances; the Elves were curious for her, probably because her black hair made her stand out among the blondes. Sometimes she noticed looks with unsubtle interest, looking up and down her body. She mostly tried to ignore _those_ gazes.

Edeneth suddenly stopped, which caused Emery to almost bump into her. "My lady", the maiden said, dipping her head and gestured her to open the doors. "Thank you", Emery said and nodded in return. The handmaiden walked away and Emery inhaled. Not able to hold herself back any longer she swung the double doors open. She immediately caught sight of an all too blonde head.

"Oh my God, Emery?!"

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 **Soooooo?**

 **What did you think?**

 **OH and btw... I am turning 16 in two days! Maybe a review and a follow as a gift? ;)**

 **Thanks for reading as always, and I'll see you in a short bit.**

 **Maybe not so short actually. This week will be pretty busy because of my B-Day and next week school starts again... I really hope I can update at least once a week or two weeks, but it'll be a busy year. So with this, I warn you, but please keep hanging because I'll do more than my best to update!**

 **-xoxo-**


	15. Hinnorel

**CHAPTER XV – Hinnorel**

 **Hi...**

 **I'm SO sorry! School has just started and I had a really hard time writing this chap. But, no more excuses, here it finally is!**

 **Emery is reunited with her best friend and... she's about to meet her mother!**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

 ** _DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Tolkien's and Jackson's works._ **

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_"_ _Oh my God, Emery?!"_

Emery didn't even bother to close the doors behind her as her eyes widened when she faced her best friend. Tears dwelled up in her eyes and blurred her vision. After what had felt ages, but was actually less than two weeks she was finally here. She was finally here with Ava, and it didn't matter that it was in a land unknown to both.

Ava was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed. But when she turned her head to her best friend, her hands slid to her sides and she could barely move. For a long second they just stared at each other, not being able to say anything more. Then, as if on cue, Ava sprung up and both ran towards each other, meeting halfway in a tight hug. Emery sobbed in Ava's neck, feeling a weight fall of her shoulders. She was alright. Ava was alive and well.

"Nine days were way too long, Ava." Emery's voice cracked up. Her best friend laughed, mixed with tears of happiness. They let go of each other and both of them looked at the person in front of them. Emery had lost weight. A lot. Her hair was messy in a long thick braid. Her bow and quiver hang over her right shoulder. She looked weary, dark circles were seen under her eyes. But even though she looked tired, Ava could see a sparkle in her green eyes she hadn't seen before. Her best friend looked determined and confident. It was the look Emery had when she was about to prove someone wrong, and it made Ava curious about her time with the Company these past nine days.

Ava, on contrary to Emery, looked well rested and healthy. She still wore bandages on her upper arm where her wound was, but Emery noticed her best friend could use her arm well. She was wearing a nice ivory gown which suited her beautifully. Her blonde hair was tied up in a low pony tail, with one single tiny braid in it.

"Though those nine days did well on you", Emery added and gave her best friend another short hug. Ava smiled and walked to her bed to sit on it cross-legged. She gestured Emery to sit next to her with a smile.

"Tell me, how are you?", she asked Emery as she sat down next to her.

"Tired," Emery answered honestly. "But look, I tanned!" She held out her bare arm to show Ava. her vest was tied around her waist, it was August after all. The days she had spent riding did good to her pale skin. Ava chuckled. "Come on, Em," she said, "you know that's not what I meant."

"Okay," Emery sighed and she told her everything that had happened during those nine days Ava had missed out on. Her eyes widened when she told her about the feast, the talks with the members of the Company, her bow and arrow skills and her improved sense, and of course the talking tree.

"You talked to a tree?!" she asked, not being able to believe it. Emery nodded as she laughed. "It was freaking absurd, honestly," she said. "And Legolas was just laughing, watching it and all. It was so weird."

Ava narrowed her eyes for a moment. "So," she said with a hint of mischief in her eyes, "if I understand well, you and that Elfie boy are getting close, huh?"

Emery widened her eyes and she felt her cheeks burn. "Oh my God!" Ava yelled excitedly. "You LIKE him!"

"No!" Emery said embarrassed and put a hand over Ava's mouth. "No, I don't…" But she didn't exactly sound convincing. "He's just been really nice to me, okay? And I don't wanna rush… feelings or something. I mean, I barely know him."

Ava huffed through Emery's hand and she pulled her arm away. "Fine!" she said mock offended. "But I wouldn't blame you for liking him, Em. He's like, really hot." Emery threw her head back and laughed.

"Shit, I missed you, Ava."

Her best friend only grinned playfully. "Okay," Emery said, almost becoming scared of that grin she knew all too well. "Tell me about YOUR nine days here. How's your arm? How is this place? Have you met the King and Queen? They're flawless."

Ava laughed. "First of all, Lórien doesn't do royalty; they're the Lord and Lady. And secondly, yes. They are absolutely flawless. When Lady Galadriel visited me when I was still healing, the thought of becoming lesbian crossed my mind."

"Me too!" Emery yelled and the best friends fell over laughing. "But," Ava followed once they stopped laughing, "apparently I've been out for three days. So this is actually my sixth day in this room. And from what I've seen, Lórien is the most beautiful land ever. Even Fiji isn't prettier."

"That says a lot", Emery chuckled.

"I know right? Anyways, my arm isn't fully healed yet, but those Elves gave me something to ease the pain. It's delicious! I think that if they had this back on Earth I'd become a drug addict."

Being reunited again, the girls talked for two whole hours, sitting on the bed. Emery was so content to be with Ava, she almost forgot about the reason the two of them had even gone to Lórien. It was when the door suddenly opened and Emery turned to see Gandalf with a suspicious smile, she felt her heart speed up in nervousness. She knew the time had come. The time had come to see her mother.

"Gandalf," she greeted and stood up. "Long time no see."

Emery's palms were clammy and sweaty. She felt her heart beating in her throat as she walked next to Gandalf. They walked in silence, tension lingered between the Elleth and Wizard. If it were under different circumstances, Emery would've looked around her to see the beauty of Lórien, but she was too tensed. They came to a stop in front of a grand door.

"Is there… anything I should know before I go in and meet her?" she asked in a whispered tone.

"She is recovering from an injury", Gandalf said and opened the door for her. Emery nodded, thinking it logical, since they were in the Healing Quarters. She walked in hesitantly. The room was big, with a large bed on the right side. There were two Elleths in the room, and both looked up to see her walking in.

The first Elleth was Edeneth, the maiden that had led Emery to Ava's room. She was just finishing up renewing bandages and was filling a cup with tea. She smiled at her and greeted before heading out. Emery heard the door close behind her, and she looked behind her to see Gandalf had stepped inside as well. She turned back around.

In the bed lay another Elleth, injured, like Gandalf said. Her upper right arm was covered in bandages, which were just renewed by Edeneth. Her hair was golden, but it was different than the golden hairs of the other Lórien Elves. This Elleth had hair with a subtle shade of copper. Emery hadn't seen this hair color before among Elves, and her head tilted a bit to the side. The Elleth looked calm for a someone who was about to meet her daughter, and she had a radiant smile on her face.

"Amariel", she said with a soft and melodious voice as she sat upright.

Emery frowned and looked around her. Was there someone else in the room? Another Elleth she hadn't seen? No, there was no one else besides the three of them and the Elleth had looked straight at her.

"Uhm, no," Emery said awkwardly. "My name's Emery." A little uncertain, she walked over to the armchair next to the bed. She sat down and looked at the Elleth that was her mother. "Is that my birth name?" she asked softly. "Amariel?"

The fair Elleth nodded. "Yes," she answered, looking at her intensely. "It was given to you by your father. He loved the Sindarin names and their meanings."

"What does it mean?" Emery asked.

"It means 'Daughter of Earth", she explained with a kind smile.

"That's beautiful", Emery almost whispered to herself and ducked her head.

Gandalf walked to the two Elleths and smiled. "My lady, meet Emery," he said and then turned to Emery, "Emery, meet your mother; Hinnorel."

 _Hinnorel_.

It was her. It really was the woman she'd read about.

Back on Earth, somewhere in the boxes full of old vinyl records and old books, Emery found an old journal when she was 14 years old. The cover was made of brown leather, and the papers were old and torn. Right there and ten she realized she'd found something of her family's heritage, maybe the diary of a great grandmother or even more distant. Maybe it was something that would be passed down to her when _her_ parents died, and Emery would hand it over to her children.

She remembered how she had held on it tightly, not letting anyone know she'd found it. When she was back in her room, she opened it and frowned. The handwriting was elegant, but she couldn't read it. It was written in a language unknown to her, and yet… she felt it was familiar. The only thing that she could speak out loud was what she guessed was a name: _Hinnorel_. She looked at the dates in the right corner of the pages, but those too had made no sense. It was like the events didn't happen in the past, but more than five hundred years in the future.

Confused, Emery would sift the internet, examine the many languages known to Mankind. She found that the weird language of the journal resembled Celtic languages, like Gaelic and Welsh, but somehow it also wasn't like those at all.

When she started with her studies of Ancient Languages, Emery made sure she'd always have that journal with her, no matter what. Because what if someday Emery found a language that matched perfectly with the one in that diary?

And now, Emery realized what language it was written in. She didn't understand at all how she hadn't thought about the journal for weeks. Yes, she had forgotten it in her bag in the Bookstore, but still; the journal should've at least crossed her mind.

Emery she wished she had it with her, otherwise she could've asked Hinnorel about it. Still, she didn't say anything about the journal and brought her focus back to the meeting of her mother.

"What does Hinnorel mean?" she asked curiously.

"Fire eyes."

Emery looked at Hinnorel's eyes, and she understood why that name was given to her. Her eyes were of light brown, with almost a reddish glow. They were beautiful, easy to get lost in for an Elf. Or her father.

She didn't say anything; simply because she didn't know what she should, had to or _want_ to say. So long had she waited for this moment, and here she was: in a room with her mother, who didn't know anything about her. Should she ask something about her? What her job was or how old she was maybe? Or should she tell her about herself, about her hobbies back on Earth? She wanted nothing more than to get to know this Hinnorel, but she had no idea how.

"You must have many questions," Hinnorel said, breaking the long uncomfortable silence. Emery looked up at her and nodded. "They will all be answered in a short time, child. But for now, which question had the most weight on your shoulders?"

Emery furrowed her brows in thought, but she already knew what question had lingered in her mind since the moment she learned about her past. "Why?" Emery asked quietly. "I mean, Gandalf told me a bit… but I want to hear it from you. The whole story."

It was silent for a few long seconds and she watched how Hinnorel's face grew somber. She immediately regretted asking; she was injured and tired after all. But still, she earned an explanation. An honest one, since Gandalf had not spoken the whole truth. She wanted to know if Thomas had to do something with this as well; they were twins, no doubt, so he had to be involved.

"Very well," Hinnorel said with a nod and a smile Emery knew was forced. "Now, drink some tea, because it is a long story."

 ** _February, 3019_**

 _"_ _Éadan!"_

 _A strawberry blonde Elleth rushed out of the crowd. She was the only one with pointed ears in the city of Edoras, and she received a few glances. Even though she had lived here for quite some time now, and she wasn't unfamiliar among the inhabitants of the city, people still tended to be a little curious for her. The Elf ignored the women and searched for a black head in the bunch of Riders._

 _"_ _Éadan!" she called again and a man that had just dismounted his brown horse turned around to see the Elleth sprinting towards him._

 _"_ _Calaerdis", he mumbled under his breath and closed his arms around her in an embrace that lasted for a whole minute. Yes, that was once her name. It was the name given to her after their marriage, and only this Man could ever call her that. "My Light of the Sea, even in the darkest places in Middle Earth", he whispered in her ear. She smiled happily and tightened her arms around him before letting go._

 _When she faced him, she saw a look of worry over his face. "How are the children?" he asked and looked over her shoulders at the house in the distance where they lived._

 _"_ _They are sleeping", Hinnorel said softly, though the grim shadow over her face was undeniable._

 _"_ _It is getting worse, isn't it?"_

 _She nodded slowly. "Is Amariel still coughing?" he asked further. She nodded again. "Yes," she said, "and Rochirion has started coughing a week ago."_

 _Hinnorel looked up at the tall Man. Even though she was an Elf, Éadan was taller than her. "They cannot survive this War, Éadan. I fear they…" She didn't spoke further, not letting the words tormenting her mind escape her mouth._

 _Her husband placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them, and looked into her fire eyes. "I know," he hushed when an uncontrolled sob escaped his wife's mouth. "Shh, I know. The Wizard will look after them. He will take them to a safe place."_

 _"_ _The Wizard has passed, Éadan," Hinnorel said hopelessly. "There is no hope left."_

 _Éadan was silent, dumb folded. Gandalf the Grey was dead? How? When? Why? If he indeed had passed, all the married couple could do was pray to the Valar, but he doubted if the Gods would listen to them in the time of War._

"Wait."

Hinnorel tilted her head, silently asking why Emery had interrupted her. She wanted to hear the whole story after all.

"Roch… Rochir… Rochirion?" she stumbled over the name. "Who's that?"

"Your brother", Hinnorel told her, and Emery frowned. It was an even stranger name than _Hinnorel_ , and Emery struggled to speak the name out loud. So this was Thomas' real name; Rochirion. She wondered what it meant, but decided that it would be better to ask afterwards.

"Sorry, go on," Emery said. "I'd like to hear more."

 ** _March 1st, 3019_**

 _Hinnorel was again running towards her husband, but now she was crying. As she reached him, an ugly, uncontrolled sob came out of her mouth. She fell against his heavy armored chest, wanting to stop him from going._

 _Now she wished her husband had stayed with the other Riders. If he had done that, he wouldn't have to leave her now. She knew something was coming, and she had told him. But here he was, ready to ride straight into the trap of Helm's Deep, and he knew that._

 _She understood his urge to defend his land, and aid his king. She had felt it too, many times. But this was different; this could be his death._

 _"_ _Promise me you will be back", she said sternly. He only looked down at her with a grave smile. "Promise me!" she begged._

 _He ran his hands through her long hair. "I promise," he said, "that I will do anything to see you and our children, my dear Calaerdis. But you must promise me something as well."_

 _Hinnorel looked up at him in question. "You must promise me that you ride for Lórien-"_

 _"_ _Do_ not _speak like that!_ "

 _"_ _You must," he said, now his voice sounding stern. "you must ride for Lórien. Bring them home, Calaerdis. I will come to you as soon as I can."_

 _She knew he was right, even though she didn't like the idea. But she couldn't stay in Edoras; it was simply too dangerous. Yet, how could she travel with two babies? She'd need an escort. Apparently, her husband had already thought about that._

Emery sighed, feeling grim herself. It was like a love story, but one that would end in a tragedy. How many times had she seen this in movies, with the Second World War? Yes, it was something completely different, but she could paint the picture in her head of how it must feel.

She watched Hinnorel closely as she told the story. The further she got, the graver she became. Emery almost wanted to say she could stop, feeling she had asked too much of her, but her curiosity won over.

 ** _March 4_** ** _th_** ** _, 3019_**

 _Hinnorel was a good and swift rider, the escorts tried to show little difficulty keeping up with her. They arrived before dawn, they had never stopped for a break. Yes, her Elven stomach was rumbling, and no doubt the escorts were starving too, but she just couldn't risk the lives of her children by stopping for lunch or dinner._

 _The Valar was with them; not once had they encountered Orcs._

 _Hinnorel was cuddling with Rochirion and it was still before dawn when Amariel suddenly woke up from her sleep. Suddenly Hinnorel felt it. A cry escaped her mouth as she put a hand on her heart in reflex. She didn't notice her children were crying. It felt awful. It was as if a part of her life was sucked out of her, and she knew what had happened when the pain turned into a heavy, annoying ache._

 _Her children didn't have a father anymore._

Hinnorel was speaking softly and she didn't look at Emery anymore, but she had ducked her head. Emery felt incredibly bad. She should never have asked this of her on their first meeting. How could she?

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have asked you this."

The Elleth didn't reply, she kept staring down. Emery looked at Gandalf, growing concerned. The Wizard looked grave as well, but smiled kindly at her.

"Come, Emery," he said. "Perhaps we should continue another time." Emery nodded and stood up. She looked at the woman who was her mother, and even though Hinnorel wasn't looking at her, she smiled. "I'm sorry again," she said. "But thank you."

"There is one thing I don't understand, Gandalf", Emery said, frowning.

"What is it, my dear?"

Emery's frown deepened. "My father died in the Battle of Helm's Deep," she said confused. "I could tell from the dates. Anyway, Helm's Deep was five, almost six months ago. And I was seven months when he died, so that makes me… a year old."

"Time and space are curious things, Emery", he said, sighing. With a look on her face, Emery urged him to elaborate.

"They are related in ways beyond our imagination, even the scientists on Earth say so," he continued. "What I am saying is… time runs differently here than on Earth."

Emery's eyes widened. "What?" A part of her had feared for this, but still it was a surprise.

"After the death of your father, Emery, you and your brother went through the _Fennas_. It is the Sindarin word for-"

"Doorway", Emery spoke aloud, but more to herself than to him. Gandalf frowned but nodded.

"Yes," he said, "indeed. Doorway. Many believe it as a myth, only few know that this is, in fact, real. It is a door between worlds: this and Earth. You went through it in London, in the bookstore."

Emery frowned. In her mind she began to calculate. Her father died in March, so that was five months ago. Five months were twenty weeks. Twenty minus the six she'd been here, was fourteen weeks when she was away from Middle Earth. In these fourteen weeks here (actually more, but hell she hated math)… she'd aged almost twenty years on Earth.

"In these six weeks I am here… Almost _eight_ years have gone by back home!" Emery said, raising her voice and stopped walking. Her eyes were watery, and she fought back those stupid tears, but in vain.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, tears pricking in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me the whole story back in Minas Tirith?"

She waited for him to answer, but to her unpleased surprise it looked like the White Wizard finally couldn't answer a question right. "My parents…" Emery said with a cracked up voice, "they've been searching for me for more than eight years. Maybe they've already given up on me."

A tear rolled over her cheek and Emery hid her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry", she almost whispered, her voice hoarse and her throat dry. Before Gandalf could say anything, Emery ran away from the Wizard. She didn't know the way in Lórien, but she just had to get away from him. He didn't even call after her, and she thought that maybe he wanted to give her some space.

She ran past multiple chambers before she bumped into a handmaiden. "Sorry", she apologized- for the hundredth time in only one hour, and without looking at her she went further, slowing down her pace. Her hand wiped her tears as she looked around and saw she was still in the Healing Quarters.

On her right were the rooms, on her left she could see the rest of the city. There was an elegant railing and there were pillars keeping the floor above her from collapsing. She stopped for a moment, taking in the view of the insides of the city for the first time since her arrival. Caras Galadhon was truly amazing. Ava was right; it was prettier than Fiji. Ava had been there once with her family, and from what the pictures had shown, Emery thought there was no land or island nicer than that one, but apparently Lórien had proved itself.

After walking several more minutes, she found herself in a garden. Emery gasped at the sight of the many flowers and bushes creating a rainbow of colors. She was the only one here, and she positioned herself on a bench looking out on a fountain. The trees around the garden were giant, their roots going deep into the earth.

 _Daughter of the Earth_.

Emery chuckled bitterly. It might fit her, but she already hated the name, to be honest. Amariel sounded like Ariel, the Little Mermaid. It was one of her least favorite Disney Princesses. Ava couldn't disagree more, but Emery found Ariel was that girl who would do anything for love, even if it meant sacrificing her greatest gift or even her family. It was selfish, Emery thought.

Next to that, Emery found her stupid and naïve, something she wasn't at all. Emery always thought her decisions through, making sure it wouldn't backfire. She learned through her mistakes that being spontaneous wasn't always a good thing. Though thinking of it now, Emery realized she _had_ done some spontaneous things these past days: climbing in trees, TALKING with trees, kickboxing with Orcs…

Emery had met her mother. It was finally sinking in. What would happen now? At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to go home, to see Thomas and her parents- adoptive parents. She hugged herself and threw her head back in annoyance. Gosh, she hated her life right now. Nothing was going the way she wanted it to go. That needed to change. She wanted her control back, and it seemed that she had lost it the moment she walked into that _stupid_ Bookstore, went through that _stupid_ Fennas-thing and landed in this _stupid_ world.

She gritted her teeth, trying to find a way to claim that control back. She'd always make sure she never lost it back home. Everything she did was organized exactly in the way she wanted, and if she could, she would plan her life five years ahead. That was actually the reason her first- and only, boyfriend had left her. She was too much a control freak; but she just couldn't let it go.

Ava was always the one who made her life a little spontaneous for once. Parties, city trips, etcetera, etcetera.

But now she _did_ want that control back, and she knew just where to start.

Emery turned around and started walking with determination, but stopped abruptly. _Nice job, Em_. She didn't know the way. In fact, she was totally lost. She was lost in an unknown city, in an unknown land, in a world that was still unknown to her. Six weeks were nothing. But eight years weren't.

She turned to where she had come from and decided it was best to walk back that way. She could always ask for help. Back in the Healing Quarters, she feared she would meet Gandalf. She almost wanted to search for him, apologizing for the way she'd acted. But no, he was the one to apologize. He had left a VERY important detail out of that story of his.

She stopped when she walked by Hinnorel's room. For a moment she stood still, hesitating if she should go back inside to talk to her without Gandalf. She walked over to the stone railing on her right side and leaned on it, still debating whether she should go in or walk further. She sighed with irritation.

Her head snapped up when she heard the door open up. To her surprise two Elves walked out of the room. One of them she recognized as Orophin, the Elf that had halted them back in the woods of Lórien. The other one was one of the two who had led them to the city, but she didn't know his name.

What were they doing in Hinnorel's room? How did they know her?

The Elf she didn't know the name of looked up at her with a tilted head. She felt his eyes go up and down, taking in her appearance, which wasn't that good. She was still wearing the worn travel clothes, which were torn at her sleeves and dirty with dust and earth. She shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do.

" _Can I help you, my Lady?_ " the Elf asked in Sindarin and Emery shook her head, not surprised anymore that she could understand. But then she thought about it. She actually _did_ need help, since she didn't know where to go.

" _Actually, yes, you could,_ " Emery said. " _I'm trying to find my way to the training grounds, but I am afraid I am lost._ "

The Elf named Orophin turned to the other. " _I have to go, Rúmil,_ " he said lowly to him. " _I will see you in an hour in the East Wing_."

So he was Rúmil, Emery thought. They were brothers. Rúmil nodded and looked back at her. " _Follow me._ "

They walked without saying a word, Emery looking around her in awe. The training grounds were further away of the city center and they walked through the forest. It was greener than any forest she'd ever seen, and it radiated health and cleanness.

She was oblivious to the fact that Rúmil- and every other Elf passing by, was watching her with curiosity. Word had spread that the new March Warden's daughter had arrived in Lórien; lady Hinnorel's daughter. He knew this was her, but it surprised her that she looked at the scenery of the forest as if she'd never seen such beauty before. Had she never been here before?

Emery felt his gaze and glanced up at him. He was handsome, like all Elves were, she'd learned. His jaw line was sharp as a knife, and his eyes were deep blue. Even though it was like all Elves had blue eyes, it seemed that everyone had a different shade in their eyes. It amazed Emery how every Elf had the same fairness, but still had beauty in their own way.

She looked back in front of her, avoiding awkwardness by staring too long.

To be honest, even though she was one of them, she didn't feel like she belonged here with them. her black hair was too striking among all those blondes, and her green eyes were like venom in the sea of blue eyes. She didn't like standing out. That was something for Ava; she danced and liked being on stage, being the center of attention.

She wondered what Ava had done during her six days she was conscious. Did she train as well? Who had she spent time with?

" _Here it is, lady Amariel_."

Her head snapped to Rúmil in surprise. She frowned at him. How did he know?

" _How do you know my name?_ " she demanded him in suspicion.

" _Your arrival was spoken of, my Lady,_ " he said with a raised eyebrow. " _by the March Warden._ "

Emery had no idea who that March Warden was and looked away. He must have understood her thoughts as he said the name of one she had not expected. " _Lady Hinnorel._ "

She looked at Rúmil again, her brows furrowed. " _She is the March Warden? The leader of the guards?_ "

He only nodded. " _It's Emery, by the way_ ," she said at last. " _Just call me Emery_." She saw the question in his eyes, but he didn't ask further, which was wise of him. He just nodded again and showed her where she could find the weapons. Emery had forgotten to grab her own, which were still in Ava's room. She thanked him and Rúmil dipped his head at her before turning around to walk away.

Emery sighed, still thinking about the fact that her real mother was a warrior. It was pretty surprising; she didn't expect it since Hinnorel didn't look like a fighter at all. But then again, what did a female fighter look like?

She walked to the armory to pick a bow and a set of arrows. She half-expected only basic bows, as it always was back on Earth if she wanted to rent something. But of course Middle Earth didn't do basics, and every bow here was carved with floral patterns. Her lips parted as she turned to a silver bow. She picked it up, gently, and traced her fingers along the engravings. She pulled back the string, testing it. She smiled and decided this was the one she was going to practice it. She picked a quiver with arrows and went back to the fields.

Arriving at the archery grounds she saw she wasn't the only one to practice.

"What a coincidence," she said and announced her presence. "Tell me Legolas, why would someone with such skill as you even consider practicing?"

The Elf turned around and grinned at her. "If you would not have spoken, it might have been the first time for _you_ to sneak up on _me_."

She chuckled. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Perhaps I should've shot an arrow right past you, but I fear I'm not that advanced yet. For all I know it could hit you in the neck instead of the real target."

She sent him an innocent smile as she prepared to train on the target next to him. "Yet you choose the target further away than mine", Legolas said with a cocked head.

Emery looked at the target and saw he was right. She smacked her head in her mind. Emery stood to the right of Legolas, and with that in front of an 80m target. She wasn't going to let him win with this though; she was not going to say 'oh oops' and walk awkwardly to the other one next to him.

So, she stayed where she was and nocked an arrow while she spoke. "I'm always in for a challenge, blondie."

He smirked and nocked an arrow himself. "Good for you, lady Emery." With that, he released the arrow from the string and it landed perfectly in the rose. Emery grunted and focused on the target. She didn't want to spend too long on focusing though, because he had done it in one simple movement. She let go of the string and the arrow flew through the air. It pierced through the target, though not in the rose. She sighed and lowered her silver bow.

"Well, you win," she said disappointed. "Like always."

He chuckled. "Do not be displeased, Emery. Your target was further away than mine. And you underestimate your improvement."

Emery rolled her eyes stubbornly, not believing his words. "Underestimating my improvement is better than to overestimate them."

Legolas tilted his head, thinking about the words she had spoken. "True," he said, "though I think it is best to just acknowledge improvement, no matter the pace."

She frowned, not really understanding what he said. Still, she nodded and started nocking another arrow until she heard someone call her name. She lowered her bow and turned around to see Ava rush towards her with a sword in her hand.

"Hey," Ava said, happy to see her again. "Wanna spar?"

Then she noticed Emery wasn't alone. "Oh," she said with surprise. "Hi, Legolas. I mean, prince Legolas, your majesty, my Lord…"

Emery laughed as she saw her best friend turn red as a tomato. She looked at the blonde Elf next to her, who had a pleased smile on his face. "Lady Ava," he greeted with a dip of his head. "You may call me Legolas, no need to be formal."

Ava nodded and turned to Emery with a tilted head. Emery glanced up at Legolas. "Go," he said with a kind smile. "I think I am done practicing."

"Again, Legolas," she reminded him, "you don't need practice. I think you're just doing it to brag- or to impress those Elleths over there." She nodded to the right and Legolas glanced in the direction she meant. There, four blonde Elleths were watching with their head leaning on their hands. When he eyed them with a surprised look on his face, the blondes blushed and turned away, pretending they weren't crushing on him. He turned back to Emery with raised eyebrow.

"Oh, don't tell me you didn't notice them, blondie," Emery grunted. "Can see a leaf from ten leagues but not four blondes staring at you a few feet away?"

With that, she turned around and walked away, followed by a wide-eyed Ava. "Blondie?" she whispered with a smirk. "Ugh, will you stop it?" Emery said loudly as she slapped her best friend on her arm.

"Okay, okay!" she said with raised hands, gesturing peace. "Come on, let us fetch a sword."

Emery stopped walking and she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "You talk… like one of them."

Ava threw her head back laughing and pulled her with her to the Armory.

"Are you sure you can spar?" Emery asked as she picked up a blade. "Your arm isn't fully healed yet."

"Yes, I can," Ava sighed. "I told you, Em, they gave me like, really good stuff. It's only a deep scratch now."

Emery put the sword down, deciding this one was too heavy, and exhaled loudly through her mouth. "Okay," she said, "but I'm not as good as you, so don't be too harsh on me."

"Sorry," Ava said mock-ashamed, "I'm afraid I can't be _not_ harsh with a sword…"

Emery huffed. "Wow," she said sarcastically, "you've become a professional in six days?"

Ava punched her shoulder playfully, mock-offended. "I have a very good teacher, Em. Believe it or not, but sword fighting is something I'm pretty good at."

"Who then, if I may ask?"

She placed her hand on the hilt of the sword carefully and swung it, hearing the sound of a sharp blade cut through the air. "Oh, there he is!"

Emery looked up to see who Ava meant an met the eyes of Rúmil.

"Hi, Rúmil", Ava greeted with a smile, and Emery could spot Ava's cheek getting pink.

"Hello Ava", he said and returned the smile before turning to Emery. "Hello, Lady Emery."

Emery greeted him with a dip of her head, though surprised he spoke in Common-Tongue. "The Lady Galadriel has requested me to bring you to her, my Lady", he said to her. Emery nodded and turned to Ava.

"Sorry," she said. "How about tomorrow morning? I'll see at dinner, by the way. I want to tell you about… you know."

"Sure, I'll see you then", Ava nodded and took the sword out of Emery's hands to put it back.

Emery smiled at her and she turned to Rúmil, following him. They walked away from the training grounds, strolling along the swift paths between the trees.

"Why did the Lady want to see me?" she asked curiously.

"I know not, lady Emery," he said. "She did not tell me."

Emery shrugged, but relieved he had called her Emery and not Amariel. Did more Elves know about her? Did they all know she was the March Warden's daughter?

"How was my mother injured?"

He looked at her with a tilted head, frowning. "Why ask me if you could ask her?"

Emery sighed, knowing Rúmil was right.

"Lady Hinnorel was injured three weeks ago, my Lady. We were ambushed by Orcs."

She frowned. Hinnorel was still recovering after three weeks? How come Ava was already almost healed after nine days? Knowing the Elf wasn't going to say any more about the ambush, she focused on the path in front of her. It was growing wider, and eventually they reached a clear spot between the trees. There, she saw the Lady standing with a silver pitcher in her hands. There was a well in the middle of the round place.

Rúmil greeted her and announced Emery. He sent her a quick, friendly smile before leaving. She returned it and turned around to Lady Galadriel. She was dressed in a clean, white gown that radiated with the sunlight that shone through the trees.

"Come child," she said as she gestured Emery to come closer. "There is nothing to fear."

Emery walked closer to her, around the well, hesitantly. No matter the beauty of the Lady, she found her rather intimidating. The Lady began to move too, and walked to the well. Now, Emery saw it wasn't a well, but merely some sort of bowl; the Lady was filling it with water at the moment. She walked a little more closer to the bowl, and jumped a little when she looked up to find Lady Galadriel's gaze upon her.

"Would you look?" she asked her, earning a confused frown. "Would you look in the mirror?"

* * *

 **So? What did you think? The part where Emery talks to Hinnorel was very difficult to write, but I pretty like how it turned out.**

 **Anyways... don't forget to let me know what you think in the REVIEWS and if you like the story, give it a follow :)**

 **-xoxo-**


	16. Creepy Mirror & Pretty Gowns

**CHAPTER XVI – Creepy Mirror & Pretty Gowns**

 **Hello readers!**

 **Another chap for you guys :)) Emery is in Lothlórien, and she has just met her mother. Galadriel asked Emery to look in the mirror, and this chapter picks up right after where we left off!**

 **Enjoy this one!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I only own my OC's like Emery, Ava, Hinnorel, etc. etc.**

* * *

 _"_ _Would you look?" she asked her, earning a confused frown. "Would you look in the mirror?"_

"The mirror?" Emery asked her, thinking it was just a bowl of water. "Will it… show me stuff?"

"It shows things that were. Things that are. And things that yet may be. It might show you your deepest desires, or your deepest fears."

Emery's frown deepened, wondering how often the Lady had ever urged someone to look in it. Still, she found herself suddenly by the side of the 'mirror' curiously.

She narrowed her eyes at the water, thinking it was just a weird joke from a weird lady. But then, the water began to have ripples in it, and an image formed itself in the water.

It was dark there, and shiny things flashed in and out of the image. She then realized they were swords and blades, cutting through Orc flesh- and Man flesh. Arrows flew through the air, piercing through Orcs, Men and Elves. Then, in the middle of many fighting people, she caught sight of a dark haired Man, swinging his sword around him, slashing in the many Orcs and Uruks around him aggressively. The mirror zoomed in, and Emery could see the deep blue eyes of the man. She didn't know them, but yet they looked so… familiar.

The man was fighting alongside a blond man. No- it was an Elf. He too had a mighty sword in his hands, killing Orcs with skill and blood thirst. Somewhere in the distance she heard someone call names. She didn't hear it well enough, but when the blond Elf called the dark haired man's name, Emery gasped. "Éadan!" he called. "Retrieve to the Keep!"

The man she now was certain was her father nodded and went back to killing the monsters, trying to make his way back to the Keep. He glanced sideways to see how the Elf suddenly fell on his knees, his hand on his arm. Emery could hear the Elf breath heavily through the blurred sounds, and she watched wide-eyed how Éadan ran towards an Uruk that approached the almost injured Elf from behind.

The dark haired man let out a battle cry as he lunged forward, but the Uruk swung his sword at him, hitting Éadan's sword fiercely which caused the Man to drop his sword. Éadan looked shocked, but the Uruk didn't try to kill him. He seemed fixed on the Elf, who still had his back turned to them, oblivious to the danger behind him.

Emery let out a scream when the Uruk was ready slice the Elf's back open, but she turned silent when Éadan jumped in front of the monster, calling the Elf's name before the Uruk's sword connected with her father's chest . Bug-eyed Emery watched her real father fall to the ground while panting heavily, unable to believe he was going to die. The Elf turned around, seeing the Man motionless on the ground. His face filled with anger and he swung his sword to the Uruk, cutting its head off.

"Éadan!" he called as he bent over the Man carefully. "Éadan! Stay with me!" But he was already lost, and the image blurred as he spoke a sentence in Sindarin before another dark haired man appeared by their side.

"No!" Emery shouted and her eyes darted over the water as it began to form a new image.

Emery first recognized the crimson red color on the wall. Then she saw the grey arm chair where her father always sat in when he would read the newspaper. Tears filled her eyes as her gaze fell upon the photo frame on the side table; she saw home.

Then, she found herself looking straight into a pair of green eyes, with an all too recognizable grey spark in them. She whispered her brother's name, a tear rolling down her eye. She noticed Thomas himself had tears in his eyes as well, but also noticed something else. He looked older.

He had a little beard, and he looked more mature. It was weird to see him like this, and Emery realized it probably was the present or the future. How old was Thomas at the moment? 28? So he was 28 years old while Emery was still 20? They were twins! He was much older now than her!

The 'camera' zoomed out and now she didn't only see her brother, but also her parents. She gasped by seeing her mother's face again after so long. She noticed how much she looked like her, even though they weren't related at all. Her mother too had black hair, but brown eyes. Then, her father appeared, and Emery noticed how both her parents were older and more grey. She sobbed seeing the grim looks on their faces. What was happening?

Her mother cried as she gave Thomas something. A notebook- no, it was a journal. Emery put a hand in front of her mouth when she realized it was Hinnorel's diary. Why was her mom giving it to her brother?

Thomas took the journal and held on to it as if it was worth more than a thousand dollars. Then, he said something to them, but Emery couldn't hear what it was. Her mother nodded furiously at what he had said and her father laughed through his tears. Emery had never seen her parents crying, and she wished she was there to ease the pain they felt.

But why _were_ they crying? Why did Thomas carry his big bag which he always used when he would stay somewhere overnight? Where was he going? Her brows furrowed in a frown when her parents hugged Thomas. He was leaving them! Why? He couldn't leave her parents alone after her disappearance! They'd be all alone!

Thomas turned his head around with a sad smile of goodbye, and walked out the door before the image became a blur once more.

Emery closed her eyes, a million questions racing through her mind. It was obvious that the first image was the past; the death of her real father. But it was that image of Thomas leaving her family behind that bugged her. Was that happening _right now_ or was that something that _could_ happen?

As she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the mirror wasn't done with her just yet. A moment later, she was staring at herself, but it was not her own reflection. It was weird to see herself like this, and she noticed she looked very different from the last time she looked in the mirror. Zooming out, Emery saw her full body and she noticed how tall and lean she was. She was pretty, she realized. Then, the mirror zoomed out further and Emery saw where she was standing.

It was breath taking where she was. In the image, Emery stood on a cliff, looking over a deep valley. A stream was running down beneath her, and there were high trees surrounding the green field below. In the distance, she could see mountain peaks reaching for the sky. Her hair was flowing gently in the wind and Emery wondered what she was doing there.

Then, Emery noticed she was holding onto something. It was the diary of Hinnorel, which she'd just seen in the previous image. Emery frowned as she saw herself crying silently. She rubbed the journal with her thumb, as if she was in some sort of doubt. Then, Emery let go of the diary with her left hand, and the other swung the journal like a Frisbee through the air, letting it fall in the valley beneath her. After watching it disappear in the stream, she turned around and walked away from the edge of the cliff.

Emery sighed, feeling gloomy. She almost turned to Galadriel, thinking it was over, but widened her eyes at the scene playing in the water. In the image, Emery suddenly spun back around to the edge, her eyes wide in despair. For a moment, she seemed hesitant, but then she suddenly began to run towards the edge. _What am I doing?_ Emery thought as she watched with an open mouth. She didn't slow down as she got closer and closer, and before Emery could scream at herself to stop running, she was suddenly staring at her own reflection.

Emery's head shot up to Galadriel, confused and outright surprised.

"What was that?" she asked as she let go of the well. "Was I… was that suicide?" Emery watched the Lady walk towards a bench and sit down gracefully, afraid for the answer she might give.

"That, child," she said as she gestured Emery to sit down next to her, "was one of the many possible paths that your life may take."

Emery sat down and looked at her with a frown. "Why didn't it show me a happy path?" she asked.

"Because you could learn from this path."

Emery thought of what she just said, and thought she understood the riddle. It was a warning, but she didn't know the cause of her sorrow in that situation. How was she going to stop herself from committing suicide?

"And the second image?" she asked. "I saw my brother and parents. Well, my adoptive parents, but still. Why was he leaving them? And where is he going?"

Then, Emery realized Galadriel actually knew who she was. As in, who she _really_ was. She didn't even tell the Lady, but she probably already knew her before Emery had looked in the mirror. Feeling more cautious, Emery decided not to ask that many questions anymore and waited for her answers.

"I knew who you were from the moment you walked into my forests, Amariel."

Emery looked up at her, surprised. Surprised Galadriel had read her thoughts and surprised she had called her Amariel.

"Yes," Galadriel followed, "I can read minds. I know what you are thinking; and I will not call you Amariel if you dislike the name."

Emery still said nothing, but also figured she couldn't think without the lady seeing her inside and out. It was creepy, but also fascinating in a strange way.

"As for your first questions," the Lady said, "I am sorry to inform you I only know what the Mirror shows people. I know not why your brother went away."

"Could I ask another question?" Emery asked after she had sighed heavily and leaned her chin on her hands, while her elbows rested on her thighs.

Galadriel nodded with a kind smile. "Who did my father save? In the first image?"

"He is named Haldir," Galadriel answered. "He was the March Warden for a long time here in Lothlórien, but now he is away in another Land, rebuilding it."

Emery followed the blonde Elleth through the halls of Caras Galadhon, looking around her with her lips parted. The city had made quite an impression on her on the first day in Lórien, and she couldn't wait exploring every corner of it.

She was on her way to her room, and according to Edeneth Ava was there too. Emery thanked the handmaiden as she opened the door and walked inside.

There, she saw Ava holding a pile of dresses in her arms, struggling to lay them all down on the bed. Emery grinned when Ava almost tumbled down, letting a dress drop to the ground. Ava bucked to picked it up, but as she held onto that dress, another dress fell from the pile. She sighed in frustration, and picked that one up, another gown falling down.

"Ava?" Emery said amused. "What're you doing?"

"Holy shit, Em!" her best friend shouted as she dropped all of the dresses in surprise. "I didn't hear you coming in!"

Emery walked further inside and closed the door. She helped Ava pick the dresses up one by one, thinking she was acting pretty much like Legolas. He sneaked up on people too, and she never heard all the other Elves in Lórien walking. Then, she thought of the day she walked inside her room back in Edoras, when Gloriël was startled because she didn't hear Emery coming in.

"Maybe it's something Elves do", she said, mostly to herself.

Ava huffed. "Well, don't," she said. "Because you just gave me a minor heart attack."

"Not even a major one?" Emery scoffed. "I would've thought you were more exaggerated than that, Ava."

"Hey, you're not an Elf for that long yet," Ava replied with a finger pointed to Emery. "If you'd sneak up on me in five years or so, I think I'd die."

Emery sat down on the bed, the dresses besides her. She crossed her arms. "Would you stay here?" she suddenly asked. It was a question that had lingered in her mind for a long time, and again she was afraid of an answer for a question she'd asked.

"What do you mean?" Ava asked as she folded a greenish dress, her brows furrowed.

"I mean," Emery said as she shifted, "would you stay here? Forever?"

Ava stopped with what she was doing and hang the dress over the bedframe on the feet end. She shifted her weight to her right leg, and a hand went up her chin, thinking.

"I… don't know," she answered in all honesty. "This place is so beautiful, just like Minas Tirith. But… I miss home. I miss my family more every day. Heck, I even miss school! I wonder every day what my parents are doing, and if they're still searching for me after almost two months."

Emery felt a lump in her throat. Ava didn't know. She didn't know about the time difference between Earth and here. Should she tell her? Yes, she had the right to know. But what if she'd want to go home immediately?

"Uhm," she croaked, "there is something I want to tell you."

Her best friend raised an eyebrow and also sat down on the bed. "What is it?" she asked, but then widened her eyes. "Oh, my God! Of course! Tell me about your mother! Sorry, I totally forgot."

Emery sighed. "Well, her name is Hinnorel-"

"That's a weird name."

Emery chuckled and nodded. "Yeah," she said, "but it means 'fire eyes', cool right? But anyway, she told me about… my real father's death, his name's Éadan. He died in a battle… But that battle occurred only five months ago."

"Wow," Ava sighed. "Pretty recent."

"Yeah," Emery said once again, "that's what I wanted to tell you about." Ava frowned, gesturing Emery to explain further. "Well," Emery said hesitantly, "I was only seven months old then."

"What?" Ava said, raising her voice. "I don't understand. How could you be seven months old? That'd make you 13 months old!"

"I know. Gandalf explained," Emery said. "He told me time is different on Earth. I told you about how I was born here but transferred to Earth right?"

Ava nodded, not sure she was following Emery.

"In those months between that and our arrival here I've aged twenty years. So that means… that one month here… is four years there."

Ava didn't say anything as her lips formed a thin line, and Emery could see she was calculating just like she had done when Gandalf had told her about this. Emery hated to see the always joyful Ava like this: devastated. Ava suddenly broke down in a hiccough and hid her face in her head once the realization hit her. Emery moved forward on the bed to put her arms around her best friend. She felt Ava's sobs and hiccoughs in the hug, and tightened her arms around her.

"It's okay, Ava", she hushed.

Ava shook her head. "No, it's not," she sobbed. "Eight years, Em. My parents are 57 years old right now. Mary should be 24; older than me!"

She untangled herself from Emery's hug and looked away. "Now I _do_ want to go home."

Emery felt uneasy after hearing those words. She perfectly understood it that Ava wanted to go to her family; she had wanted the same thing. But Emery couldn't leave her mother now that she'd found her. They did have a chance to go back. For all she knew that _Fennas_ was something that could be reopened. But what if she told Ava? Would she go without her? Would she abandon her?

"If there was a chance, would you go?" Emery asked. "Even after all you've been through here?"

Ava looked at her. "Yes."

Emery flinched internally. She didn't want Ava to leave. A voice in her head said she was being extremely selfish and that she had to give Ava a choice of her own, but Emery had already made her decision. She wasn't going to tell her about the _Fennas_.

Emery stood up and took a look at the dresses. "Let's distract ourselves, shall we?" she said enthusiastically. "It's our first dinner- well, my first dinner here actually, and we can't go I these garbs!" She was still wearing her dirty travel clothes, and she couldn't wait to get out of them and wash herself.

Ava forced a smile and stood up as well. The next hour, Emery bathed, they both chose their dresses and braided each other's hair; nicely old school dress up play. They distracted themselves by talking about nonsense and joking around. It reminded Emery much of their sleep overs when they were 14, and it was a nice familiar feeling.

"I think you should tie it up," Emery said as she held Ava's blonde braid in her hand. Ava nodded in agreement and watched via the vanity mirror how her best friend rolled the braid up skillfully and placed a pin in it to keep it in place. After that, Ava went back to powdering her face; her handmaiden had given her this one make up product, and the girls assumed it was the only product the people in this world had.

"Where'd you find that?" she asked, meaning Emery's pin.

"I found it in the drawer," Emery answered. "Apparently they _do_ have things to do your hair with. I wonder how they curl their hair though."

Ava shrugged. "Maybe they have those curls naturally", she suggested.

Just then, a knock on the door was heard and the ladies stopped with what they were doing. "I'll get that", Emery said and she stood up. She opened the door ajar to find Aragorn standing in front of her.

"Hello, Aragorn," she greeted. "What is so important you must interrupt a good old ladies' dress up?"

He smiled. "Perhaps the occasion you are dressing up for?"

Emery chuckled and opened the door further. "True," she said. "Good thing we're done for. Come on Ava!" she called to her best friend who was finishing up her hair by taking a few strands out of her tied up braid. "I'm hungry!"

"Coming!"

The two girls followed Aragorn through the halls. "You both truly look fair, my Ladies", Aragorn said. Emery and Ava smiled and exchanged glances. It was like going to prom after spending the whole evening picking out the perfect dress and hairstyle. This, however, was under little different circumstances. They were dining with the Fellowship, some of the March Wardens, and the Lord and Lady of Lórien. The friends were nervous and wanted to look at their finest, even though it probably wasn't that much of a deal. Next to that; prom didn't even exist here.

The gown Ava wore, was a dark navy one with golden-colored sleeves, which grew wider from the elbow. Around her waist was a belt, also gold but with white floral patterns on it. She looked like a real medieval Lady as she walked, or at least tried to, walk gracefully through the halls.

Emery however, moved as gracefully as every other Elf in Lórien. Wearing this particular Elven gown somehow made her feel gorgeous, and she never knew she would ever feel this way. She was… confident. And not often did Emery Liliath feel confident of her looks. Perhaps Amariel _did_.

However, everyone who would have the opportunity to wear a gown like hers would feel like a princess- maybe a queen even. The gown had different shades of blue, from light as the clouds to dark as the deep waters of the ocean. Under her breasts, the top layer of her dress split open, revealing the dark navy skirt under it. These sleeves widened around the elbow as well, and they had a light, transparent blue color.

Emery sighed and played with her enormous long and wide sleeves. She did feel more nervous about seeing Galadriel again than Ava. She didn't fear her after her encounter with the Mirror, but it definitely made Emery uncomfortable.

Like children of seven years old, the girls hooked their arms as they walked into the dining hall. It was a long table with over twenty seats, and everyone was already seated; four seats were empty. At the head, Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel sat next to each other, a seat on their right open for Aragorn. Close to the head, but also to the middle, two seats next to each other were open for Emery and Ava.

Everyone looked up and the girls felt like they were in a movie. It seemed a bit cliché, them stealing the show and all, but it truly was an extraordinary and unfamiliar feeling. They simply looked incredible, and the Elves even took a good look at the 'mortal'. Emery grinned when she saw Rúmil almost dumb struck taking in Ava's appearance. What did Emery exactly miss these nine days she was away from Ava? Did her best friend perhaps have a secret admirer?

Emery looked around, taking in who was there, and who weren't. Gandalf was the only one missing of the Company. That empty chair had to be for him right? But Gandalf would sit closer to Galadriel, Emery figured. This seat was in the middle, further away from the head. Before Aragorn could walk to his seat, Emery held his arm. "Where is Gandalf?" she asked and immediately let go of the King's arm.

"He went away," Aragorn answered. "I do not know for what purpose."

She nodded slowly, not understanding what he meant with 'went away'. She shrugged and went to her own seat with Ava. Emery sat down next to an unknown Elleth, but when she got a closer look on her, she recognized her as one of the four girls who had been gazing at Legolas back on the training grounds earlier that day. She huffed internally and looked around the table. Diagonally in front of Ava, she saw Rúmil. He greeted them with a dip of his head, and a smile to her best friend. Emery raised an eyebrow as she saw Ava's cheeks become a little more red as she smiled back. She tilted her head curiously. Maybe this feeling wasn't one-sided…

In front of her, Gimli sat, and Legolas next to him. She smiled at both of them, but couldn't stop herself from gazing a little too long at the latter. He was wearing some sort of circlet, simple but elegant. She had never seen him wear one, but figured it must be worn for only formal occasions. Legolas' blue eyes stood out more with the grey tunic he was wearing. It was like she could easily become lost in them.

Tearing her eyes off of him, she looked at the food that was stalled in front of her. She suddenly felt really hungry, but noticed no one was taking any of it. Even Merry and Pippin, who were seated nearby, hesitated to grab something of the food. She bit her lip and it took everything inside her to not attack the chicken in front of her and Gimli. Emery knew Elves didn't eat animals, so they probably went out of their standards for the Dwarf and perhaps Faramir and Aragorn.

She looked at Ava, who seemed to be waiting patiently. It was completely silent, and Emery felt extremely awkward. She poked Ava in her side. "Ava," she whispered so silently, she knew not even the Elleth next to hear could hear her. "What's going on? Why's no one eating that delicious looking chicken?"

Ava smiled but didn't look at her. "Not everyone is here yet", she whispered back, though a little louder than Emery's whisper. "Who's missing?" Emery asked.

"Someone told me the March Warden was coming too."

Emery shifted. "Hinnorel, my mother."

Ava turned her head slightly to her best friend. "Your mother's the March Warden?" Emery nodded and at that moment, the doors opened.

"Edeneth, dear, I can walk on my own."

Emery turned around to see Hinnorel walk inside, her handmaiden Edeneth darting around her. Hinnorel looked up at the entire table and smiled. "Hello everyone", she greeted casually, probably knowing each one sitting around this table.

Hinnorel walked to the empty chair next to Rúmil, diagonally in front of Pippin. Her gaze fell on Emery's, and she smiled kindly at here, dipping her head. Emery smiled back at her, greeting her with her name, not the word 'mother'. Hinnorel didn't show any sign of disappointment, smiling in understanding. Rúmil though, who knew the March Warden was her mother, tilted his head curiously and a bit confused.

Emery looked down at her lap, fumbling with her dress. She suddenly thought of her parents, who were all alone with Thomas gone too. Or maybe her brother was still home, her parents not knowing he would leave soon. The mirror had disturbed her greatly, and even though she hadn't given it much thought the rest of the day, those images were like an unconscious heavy weight on her shoulders.

After a few seconds, she looked back up, feeling someone's gaze on her. She met Galadriel's piercing blue eyes and almost shivered. She heard her voice in her head, and even though she told her to calm down and chin up, Emery could only feel more tense.

"Helloooo, earth to Emery!"

She turned to Ava, who was looking at her with questioning eyes. "Do you want some chicken?" Weirdly enough, Emery didn't feel like it anymore. This surprised her, since she would never say no to chicken back home. Next to that, the sight of that chicken had made her so hungry only minutes ago. But now, she just didn't want to eat any of it, so she shook her head. "No," she said, "I think I'm going for some of that salad."

Ava raised her brows in a surprised and mocking way. "Salad?" she repeated unbelievably. "Okay," she turned to Emery with narrowed eyes, holding both of her shoulders. "who are you, demon, and what have you done with Emery Aurelia Liliath?"

Emery threw her head back and laughed, earning glances from the people around her. Merry and Pippin looked at her surprised, as was Gimli, and Legolas simply looked amused. Ava grinned at her, but still couldn't believe Emery had just said no to chicken for salad. She had never done that before, and if Ava recalled correctly, Emery hadn't even eaten salad in four years. She'd abandoned it after she failed to start a plant based diet when she was 16 years old.

"Is that your full name?" Pippin asked curiously once Emery had stopped laughing.

Emery looked at Hinnorel, who was still smiling at her, understanding she couldn't fully commit to her real name just yet. Emery nodded and tried to look at Pippin by leaning over the table. "Yes, it is. Sort of. It might sound a little strange for you, though."

Merry shook his head. "I think it's beautiful," he said, smiling. "Yes, a little strange maybe, but beautiful."

"Thanks", Emery said and blushed. She used to get many compliments on her name at school and college, but she always thought it was so formal and chic. It didn't really fit her, she thought.

That dinner, everyone chatted with each other, and Emery even talked to the Elleth next to her for a short while. Her name was Lithel, and she was pretty nice actually. A moment later Gimli joined in, and Emery could see Lithel's face go tense. She knew Elves and Dwarves had a hard time cooperating, but did Lithel really have to show it like that? Gimli however, didn't show any sign of unease. Emery noticed the Elleth from then on was only staring at the Prince of Mirkwood, trying to start a conversation desperately. He seemed to be in need of help, but neither Gimli nor Emery offered it to him, having way too much fun with watching Legolas try to escape of the many questions he was asked. He narrowed his eyes at her when he looked up to see a smug grin on her face. Emery shrugged nonchalantly and went back to eating her salad, now noticing Ava was still eyeing her with suspicion.

After many minutes talking through each other in groups, the different conversations centralized. More and more people listened to the conversation between Merry, Pippin and Ava. Emery was listening amused, glad she finally got to see Ava in such a happy and joyous shape again.

"So you've never like, had a dream of what you want to do when you grow up?" Ava asked curiously. She couldn't image the fact that they didn't have some sort of passion or dream they.

Merry tilted his head, thinking about her question. "No, not really," he finally said. "Why?"

"Why?" Ava repeated unbelievably. "Don't you have a passion? Or even more? Something that you'd want to make your job of?"

"I have a passion!" Pippin cried happily. Every Elf, Man and the one Dwarf looked at the Hobbit in anticipation. Merry rolled his eyes, already knowing what he was going to say. "Eating?" he asked sarcastically, ruining Pippins joke. Some chuckles were heard, and Emery laughed at the two Hobbits, finding them hilarious together.

"Do you have a passion, lady Ava?" Pippin asked.

Emery smiled, knowing what was to come. Ava nodded with a radiant smile on her face, her teeth visible. "Just Ava," she said. "And yes, I do. I dance. Ballet, Modern dance, street dance, Hip Hop… everything and every style. Heck, I even do tap! You know- I used to go to a dance school back ho-"

"AVA!"

The blonde girl jolted and turned sideways to Emery, who was eyeing her with a stern and hard look. It took seconds before Ava realized what she'd almost said and she immediately turned red. The people around the table were looking at her with confused looks on their faces, having no idea what the terms were she had told them about. Ava would've laughed at the thought of Hip Hop amongst Elves if it were under different circumstances.

"What's ballet?" Pippin asked a bit confused.

"Yes, and what is you called it?" Gimli asked after him. "Street dance?"

Ava opened her mouth and closed it, not knowing what to say. Her best friend decided to use her acting skills- which weren't very present to be honest, but still- and helped her friend.

"Now, Ava," she said sweetly, "don't go spill all of our inside jokes, will you? We don't want them to find out how good our dancing skills are."

"But we do," Merry said excitedly. "Could you show us?"

"There's no music", Emery said, hoping it'd be a valid reason to not dance.

"Yes, there is", Aragorn suddenly said with an amused grin on his face, gesturing to a little platform where many instruments- some unknown to her, were stalled.

Ava bit her inner lip and turned to Emery. She'd do anything do dance again, but also knew that it probably wasn't anything like the Elven meaning of dance. Her handmaiden had told her once that dancing was only something to be done on festivals, with others on the dance floor. Not to entertain others with it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," she said and pointed at the arm which was bandaged under the sleeve of her dress. "I'm still injured and I cannot fully use my arm yet."

Emery sighed in relief, knowing this was a good excuse.

"But Emery is not injured."

She turned to Legolas, surprised. He had a smug grin on his face, and she figured this was his payback. She shook her head furiously.

"No," she said, laughing nervously. "I can't dance, that really is Ava's thing."

It was silent for a moment, and Emery visualized herself dancing in front of everyone in this room, moving awkwardly and stumbling over her own feet.

"Then what can you do?"

Emery looked at Faramir, noticing this was the first time he had said something to her during this dinner. Looking around, she saw nobody was actually eating anymore, even the Hobbits, too interested in the conversation.

"She can sing!"

"Ava…"

"No really, she can!"

"Every Elf can sing, Ava", Emery hissed, silencing her best friend angrily. She wanted to say 'learning languages quickly' or something else, but _not_ singing. Because when she'd tell someone she sang, she'd always hear the same question…:

"Could you sing for us?"

Emery now turned to Pippin again, who was waiting for her in anticipation.

"I… I don't know any songs…" Emery mumbled, her right leg under the table beginning to shake, which she always did when she began to feel nervous.

"Oh, you liar," Ava whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, earning curious gazes. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Ava," Emery snapped in a whispered voice, "I don't want to sing in front of all these people. You know I don't like being center-staged like you!"

Her best friend was quiet for a moment, not looking at her. Emery could feel how everyone was staring at her, and she felt her cheeks burn up. "Just pretend they're not here," Ava simply said. "That's what I always do. It's better than picturing the crowd naked, because that makes me laugh. Anyways, you just close your eyes, and pretend you're in your room, looking out of the window, seeing the white sand of the beach. It really helps, Em. You are so talented, I know it. Why do you always have to hide it?"

Emery didn't know the answer to that, and looked at the others around the table. Hinnorel was smiling reassuringly, as did Aragorn. She pursed her lips and found herself standing up, hands shaking. She had never sung something in front of a crowd or others besides Ava, Thomas and her parents. Emery was known of her kickboxing, not her singing skills.

She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes, picturing her room like Ava said. Softly, she began to hum a melody. It was a melody and song text she'd made up herself, when she was 15 years old. It was meant to be a poem, but eventually she began singing it more and more often. It was something that lingered in her mind the whole day, wishing she _would_ wake up in another world. It was pretty ironic to be honest. Because here she was; in another world. However, after the shark attack in South Africa, the text seemed to have fled away from her head, and she hadn't sung her own song in three years.

When the intro was sung, Emery began with the text.

 _Deep in the night that covers me_

 _I lay on a bed of clouds_

 _Soft as a light feather_

 _And high above the ground_

 _I look at the sky above me_

 _And see the stars are veiled_

 _Closing my eyes tightly_

 _I pretend I am somewhere else_

 _A place where I can be someone different_

 _Yet I can be myself_

 _A place beyond the imagination_

 _Of my favorite book on the bookshelf_

 _A place with fields with long green grass_

 _Tracing the ends of the blades with my fingers_

 _A world where the sea calls you home_

 _The salt air that lingers_

 _A place where the golden sun rises_

 _Over the highest mountain peak_

 _And there where the sun sets_

 _Disappearing beneath the sea_

 _There where good conquers evil_

 _Heroes defy villains_

 _A place where bravery is made renown_

 _Filling the world with brilliance_

 _But as I open my eyes reality kicks back in_

 _And I find myself merely staring at the ceiling_

 _Tossing and turning I try to find a way_

 _A way to escape reality once more_

 _I sigh in relief as I look outside_

 _Knowing the night is still young_

 _Even though it's just a fantasy;_

 _When the darkest shadows cover me_

 _You know where I'll be._

 **(A/N: This is my text, I made it myself!)**

Emery kept her eyes closed for a few more seconds. The whole time she sang this, she'd imagined her own room, her own bed, her window seat and the setting sun over the water. Only then she realized she was actually crying silently, and she brought her hand to her eyes to wipe away the tears.

One person began to clap her hands, and she knew in an instant it was Ava. It was slow, as if unsure to break the emotional silence in the room. Then, another person joined, and a moment later everyone clapped their hands enthusiastically. Emery opened her eyes in surprise and blushed. Her eyes met Hinnorel's, who smiled proudly at her daughter.

Then, she looked at the other side of the table, seeing Aragorn still clapping among the others, also looking proud and happy. Galadriel and Celeborn were looking at her approvingly, nodding while they clapped their hands. Her eyes scanned the table further, and found Legolas. He was the only one who didn't applaud. His face had a strange look on it, but when she blinked, the look was gone and he had a bright smile on his face.

From that moment on, Emery knew she didn't really mind being center-staged anymore.

* * *

 **Well, that was it!**

 **The text that Emery sang at the dinner is mine, I wrote it myself. It really fits me I think; even though I say it myself, I'd call me a dreamer and many times I wonder what it would be like if I someday woke up in another world (like Middle Earth HAHAHHA you thought it I said it lol).**

 **Anyways...** **What did you think of the images in the mirror?**

 **What did you think of Emery keeping secrets for Ava for her own good?**

 **What did you think of the dinner and the song?**

 **Leave a review and stick around for the next coming chapters of The Unexpectedly Changed Life of Emery :)**

 **-xoxo-**


	17. Violence Against the King

**CHAPTER XVII – Violence Against the King**

 **Hi! A new chapter for you guys! Some things are developping in this chapter...**

 **Anyways, have fun reading this one, and don't forget to review!**

 **Enjoy x**

* * *

That next day, Emery woke up after dawn, feeling strangely at ease. As if in a movie, the sun shone through the window and birds chirped their good morning songs. She sat upright in her bed with a smile and stretched her arms out, wondering how waking up like this would be if she lived in one of those treehouses- or flets is what the Elves called them.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and smiled as she recalled last night's dinner. It had been such a nice evening and after she had sung her own song, something had changed inside her. Emery finally felt that spark in her which she always had when she sang back home. A short moment longer she sat there, thinking that she one day might be able to call Middle Earth her home. Yes, if Gandalf would let her, she would go home in no doubt; but only for a temporary time. She would say goodbye to her adoptive parents one last time and return to Lórien. After everything she had learned about her heritage, she couldn't just leave it all behind.

Emery knew what to do and she pulled a light gown out of her closet. Before dinner yesterday, she and Ava had decided which of the many gowns each would have, and Emery was happy with her selection. They were all pastel colored, save one; she had chosen one crimson red gown that reminded her of home. She couldn't just abandon _everything_ of her life in Florida either, after all.

Ava had chosen the dresses that reminded Emery of the gowns the Rohirrim ladies had worn in Edoras. They were dark green or white with gold, and they fit the girl perfectly despite her human features.

While she bathed, Emery hummed a happy song which she'd already forgotten the name of. In front of the mirror, she brushed her wet hair and touched the tip of her pointed ear. She didn't know why she did that, but she smiled, almost embracing the way she was and the situation she was in.

She walked out of her room and went to Ava's, knocking on the door. Emery wanted to let her know that she probably wouldn't be back until noon, but when no one answered at the door, she figured Ava must have had plans on her own today.

It was her second day in the city Caras Galadhon and to her greatest surprise Emery had managed to find her way to the Healing Quarters. Once she arrived though, she found the door was unlocked and when again nobody answered, she pushed the door open. The room was empty and looked like it just had an entire cleaning make over, and she felt as if returning to a hotel room in the evening.

"Hinnorel?" she asked hesitantly as she peered out of the ajar door. No answer. Emery closed the door and sighed, wondering where the Lady March Warden was. She turned around to walk in whatever way and bumped into someone.

"Lady Emery?" an Elleth asked after she steadied herself. Emery realized it was Edeneth, Hinnorel's handmaiden. "Are you alright?"

Emery nodded. "Yes, I am," she replied. "Though I was wondering where Hinnorel has gone? She is not in her room."

"She has gone to the Healing Gardens, my Lady," she said and pointed to the direction she was facing. "If you walk that way, just straight on following the path, you should arrive in approximately ten minutes."

Emery thanked her and turned around to walk in the direction Edeneth had pointed out to her, to the Gardens she had sat in the day before after talking to Gandalf.

As the Gardens drew nearer, she could already spot Hinnorel's strawberry blonde hair. She was sitting on a bench under a large overhanging tree, seeming deep in thought. Emery slowed her pace as she got closer to the bench and when Hinnorel finally looked up to see her, she smiled.

"Hello", Emery greeted and stood still in front of her.

"Hello Emery", Hinnorel said as she dipped her head and made room for Emery to sit down next to her.

Emery did so and glanced over to the Elleth sideways. "How are you faring?" Hinnorel asked.

"I'm… feeling pretty nice, actually," Emery replied. "Yesterday I went to bed with a positive mind and today I woke up with one."

This made Hinnorel smile more brightly than she already was doing. "You sang beautifully yester eve, Emery," she said softly. "I was quite surprised to be honest. And you have written it by yourself?"

Emery nodded, feeling proud of her piece of art. Nobody had heard it expect for her family and Ava. And yesterday, she had sung it for more than twenty people! Who would've thought!

"Yes, I did," she said. "It was midnight when I wrote it as a poem. I couldn't sleep, had too much to think about. So then I decided to grab a pen and paper and the words just seemed to flow out of my head on the paper. The next morning I looked at it and I thought to myself: wow, this is actually pretty good. And the whole day- at school, in the car and even during grocery shopping I had that text in my head. Suddenly, I began to sing it in my mind and started humming the melody of it. It was pretty weird. I've never written my own song before. I always sang covers of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, you know?"

Hinnorel nodded, even though she didn't know who Taylor and Selena were- or what a car was.

"You seem very creative", she said.

"Oh, no," Emery laughed. "That's Ava. No, I'm not that creative; I only sing and that was the only song I've ever written. Ava paints, draws, dances and writes stories… she's the creative one. You could say I'm more sporty."

Hinnorel chuckled. "Sports? What kind of sports are there on Earth exactly?"

Emery smiled, thinking about Baseball, American Football, Soccer and the many more sports that were played all over the world. And so she started with American Football, which she found the most fun to watch. She also loved throwing the Football with her dad; they always did that during the summertime. Emery explained how there were teams of each state, some more known and some less, and then told her about the quarterbacks and running backs, and the other positions.

The Elleth listened with an amused smile on her face, not understanding every detail Emery told her. Still, she was glad she got her loosened up, and apparently Emery knew a lot about these sports.

"So, those are some team sports," Emery finally said after explaining Baseball and Soccer. "There are also sports that you do alone of course, like horse riding, archery and… surfing."

Emery smiled as she recalled the feeling she'd always get while surfing. That feeling of freedom when there was nothing but her, her surfboard and the wave.

"You probably don't know what surfing is", Emery assumed. Hinnorel nodded in agreement.

Emery now turned her body towards Hinnorel and thought about the best way to explain how surfing worked. "The only thing you need is a surfboard, the sea and a mighty wave. First, you lie down on the board, back to the sky. Then you paddle towards the wave and when it's close enough, you quickly turn around. Once you have enough speed, you stand on your board and let the wave lead you back to the shore." Emery sighed as she stared at the fountain, images the beaches flashing before her eyes. "It's the best and most amazing feeling on Earth, I think. The wind in your hair, the speed, the adrenaline; it's awesome."

Hinnorel smiled as she watched Emery talk about what seemed to be her passion. But suddenly, Emery's smile faded and her face turned gloomy. She lowered her head, thinking about a certain event that had interfered the feelings of freedom.

"It once was my favorite sport. My greatest passion", she said grimly. She felt Hinnorel's questioning gaze on her and she exhaled through her mouth.

"It happened during the summer, three years ago. Thomas and I were in South Africa, a land on Earth and it's said and known that it's the best place to surf. Unfortunately, it's also known that there are many sharks in that area. We knew that, but what were the chances of getting attacked, you know?"

Emery placed her left foot on the bench, hugging her knee while flashbacks tormented her mind. She then sighed and slightly pulled up the skirt of her dress, and a big ugly scar revealed itself on her tibia. Emery gritted her teeth at the sight of the nasty bite mark and looked away, still not daring to look at it after three years.

Hinnorel's eyes widened. "A shark did this?" she asked unbelievably. Emery nodded. "There are different kinds of sharks. The Great White is the most dangerous; it tears apart everything that comes across. Even people."

Hinnorel looked at the scar. The places where the teeth of the water beast had been were still very visible. But what really intrigued her was the size of it; the bite mark almost covered her whole lower leg.

She couldn't imagine how it must have felt like. Of course, she too had been attacked by filthy beasts like goblins, trolls and orcs. But none left scars like that shark had done. Hinnorel began to wonder if perhaps Earth was more dangerous than Middle Earth with its sharks and many other beasts she'd heard of.

Emery let her skirt fall around her leg again and placed her foot on the ground. "I hate it", she muttered as she placed her elbows on her knees and leaned her head on her hands.

Hinnorel shook her head. "No, you should not despise it," she said, which caused Emery to look sideways at her with a raised eyebrow. "It is a part of you, whether you like it or not. You conquered that beast, that monster. You survived."

She placed her hand on Emery's shoulder and smiled kindly, her fire eyes radiant as she did so. Letting the words sink in, Emery smiled back and sat up straight.

They talked more for about an hour, enjoying the sun and fresh air in the woods. Hinnorel told her about her job as the March Warden and she was glad to see Emery so interested in it.

"But… there was another one before you, right?" Emery asked curiously.

Hinnorel nodded. "Yes, that was Haldir. I took over his function when he went to Ithilien to set up a Ridder mark of Men and Elves. So, it is only temporary. He is expected to come back in a few weeks actually."

Emery swallowed, wanting to say she had seen how Haldir had been saved by Hinnorel's husband. But she figured it best to say nothing about Éadan, since last time Hinnorel almost had break down.

She looked up to the sky, seeing the sun had climbed already high in the sky. It was still before noon, but Emery wanted to find the others, preferably Ava of course. She sighed.

"I have to go," she said apologetically. "I haven't eaten breakfast yet and I wanted to speak Ava."

"Sure," Hinnorel said, "go. I do hope you will come by more often."

Emery smiled, struck by her kind words. "I will", she said, and dipped her head.

They said their goodbyes and a few minutes Emery was walking towards the hall where breakfast was served. Soon enough she could hear the chatter of two certain Hobbits, and she smiled as she walked into the hall, seeing them with a plate full of food.

She walked towards their table, ignoring the curious gazes she still received from the Elves around her.

"I already expected to find you two here", she said and took a seat beside Merry.

"Good morning, Emery", he greeted happily, as did Pippin.

Emery clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "So," she said, "what's on the menu guys?" She peered at the Halflings' plates, spotting nothing but meat. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if the Elves prepared the meat especially for them- and Gimli of course.

"How come you two are so thin?" she asked with a tilted head. "I mean, you don't really eat healthy or something…"

Merry looked up, frowning. "I don't know actually", he said, seeming deep in thought.

"Maybe it's because we work hard", Pippin said.

It was quiet for a moment among the Halflings, and they looked at each other with blank faces. Emery shifted awkwardly, not knowing why this weird silence was filling this space. Then, in all the sudden, Merry and Pippin burst out in laughter. "Work hard!" Merry repeated through his guffaws. Pippin almost fell off the bench as he convulsed of laughter. Emery sat there, watching the two as she tried to understand the joke. She wondered if it even _was_ a joke.

"I think I'm going to find the others", she finally mumbled and was about to stand up.

"No need to," Merry said once he was done laughing. "They're having a council with Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel."

"Yes," Pippin said, still seeming to breath heavily, "they've been gone all morning."

Emery turned to the Hobbits again with a frown. "And why aren't you with them? You travel with them too, right?"

Pippin nodded and took a sip of his drink. "True," he said, "but we slept in. We had too much ale yesterday!" Emery sighed. "Damn, you two," she said. "Okay, then have you seen Ava somewhere? She's not in her room."

"I saw her heading to the training grounds with that blond Elf," Merry said. "She seemed kind of coy with him, don't you think, Pip?"

Emery frowned. "Alright," she said as she hastily stood up, "I think I'd better go."

"You haven't even eaten breakfast!" Pippin called after her as she walked away.

"Not that hungry anymore!" she shouted back and made her way to the training fields. Again, she was surprised that she knew her way and looked around her. A smile played across her face as she pictured Ava being in love with Rúmil. With an Elf! She was in love with a freaking Elf!

Now, she had to say Rúmil certainly wasn't unpleasant to look at. But apparently her best friend had already called dibs- not that she minded. She slowed down, wondering if she should disturb them. But before she knew it she found herself already on the training grounds. She looked around and spotted Ava and Rúmil sparring a few meters away.

She went to stand behind a big tree and peered around the trunk. The two were sparring in a fast pace, trying to make it each other as difficult as possible. Sometimes, Ava would let out a giggle and Emery could see Rúmil's eyes brighten from the distance every time the sound was heard. She smirked, wondering if Ava even noticed what she was doing to him.

Emery had seen it during dinner yesterday. Ooh, how Rúmil's eyes had lit up once Ava walked into that room. His eyes had gone up and down, taking in the blonde girl's appearance in her suitable gown. Luckily, Elves were way more courteous than the guys and men on Earth it seemed. Rúmil had never flirted with Ava, which almost every guy did when they were at a party or when they were clubbing.

This was different, Emery could see that all too clearly. Ava seemed a bit nervous, and she was never nervous around boys. That had to mean at least _something_.

She continued to watch them, and she let out a soft giggle when Ava fell down on her bum. "Ouch", the blonde girl mumbled. Rúmil chuckled as he reached out for her hand to help her up. Ava smiled and grabbed his hand. "For once I thought I could beat you", she panted as she dusted herself off.

"Perhaps we should take a break", the Elf said, but Ava shook her head. "No," she said and she altered her stance, sword held diagonally in front of her to be ready for any kind of attack or defense. "Again."

And so they started sparring again, and Emery watched them in amusement. She didn't want to interfere their spar, so she stayed behind the tree.

"Perhaps it would do more good if you practiced it instead of watching it."

Emery whirled around, caught off guard by the sudden voice behind her. Her shoulders relaxed and her face softened once she saw Aragorn in front of her.

"Aragorn," she said with sigh. "I thought you were holding a council. At least, from what I've heard."

He nodded. "We were," he said, "we just finished." He peered over her shoulder, seeing Ava and Rúmil sword fighting together. He smiled. "I see…" he murmured, but more to himself. Then he looked back to Emery. "Would you like to spar with me?"

"Sure," Emery shrugged, "but… don't expect too much of me, please."

Emery picked out a nice, light sword from the armory on the training grounds. As they approached a circle close to the sides of the fields, Aragorn told her a bit about the basics. Different positions for the feet, different ways to hold the sword and different ways to attack and defend. Emery soon found out that even the theory stuff was a lot harder than she had expected. During the ambush near Fangorn she had followed her instincts and improvised, but apparently that wasn't really the intention of sword fighting.

"Defend yourself", Aragorn finally said as he altered his stance, and a moment later he came at her with his sword raised. Emery's eyes widened and she almost dropped her sword. She froze, not knowing what to do.

When Aragorn came face to face with her, he lowered his sword and sighed. "You didn't even try", he said.

"Sorry," Emery mumbled embarrassed, "it was just so sudden."

"Everything in a battle is sudden," he argued. "But while your opponent charges against you, you should be two steps ahead, knowing what he will do next so you can prevent or dodge it."

Emery let the words sink in and held on to her sword with two hands, holding it diagonally in front of her face.

"Let's do it again", the King said and went back to his stance. Emery waited for him to attack, but he only started circling her. Emery moved in the opposite direction, trying to figure out what to do.

Should she attack first? No, he would easily dodge her, that'd be embarrassing.

 _Oh my God, stop that, Em_ , she thought to herself. She shook her head and suddenly, Aragorn came at her and the next moment she was lying on the ground.

"Dead," he said as he let out an arm to help her up. "And I haven't even used my sword. You think too much, Emery. It will be the death of you."

Emery groaned and took his hand, coming back with her feet on the ground. "Okay, sorry."

"Again."

The next time, she tried to defend herself, but she held the grip in the wrong way, which caused her to drop her sword. That next time, Emery held off one blow, but she was too slow and he swung at her again.

They continued with this for about two hours, and Emery was sweating all over her body. Her hair was tied in a high pony tail, but her dress annoyed her the most. She kept stumbling over the sweep of her gown and the lower parts of her skirt were turning brown of the earth.

"You are tired", Aragorn said. Emery nodded. "Yes, I am," she said. "And I'm afraid this dress is done for…"

They walked back to the armory, and both stood still when they saw that Ava and Rúmil were still here, though now they were having what seemed to be a deep conversation. Emery and Aragorn exchanged glances and grinned. Then, they walked further, away from the training fields.

"I understand you have met your mother?" he asked as they walked through the woods.

Emery nodded. "Yes I have."

"How is she?"

"She's nice", Emery replied, but didn't know what else to say.

"I heard she is the March Warden", Aragorn said and glanced sideways to Emery.

Emery hummed. "That's right," she said. "Only temporary though. The official one is in… Ithilien? Yes, Ithilien." Aragorn nodded. "So I've heard," he said again. "I know Haldir very well."

They walked along in silence, listening to the song that the birds were singing, high in the trees. It was past noon, perhaps 2 PM. Suddenly, her stomach produced a whale like sound. They both halted and stared at her tummy.

"Have you already eaten something?" Aragorn asked her.

Emery shook her head. "No, I forgot about that. Maybe I should grab some lunch."

Aragorn frowned, then walked further. "Come," he said, "why don't you eat with us?"

She nodded and followed him, not knowing the way to where they had set up camp. Only a few minutes later they arrived. There were a few tents and a large natural fire pit. They were surrounded by large trees, their roots visible above the brown earth. Emery looked around, spotting everyone occupied by their own little tasks and pursuits.

Faramir was sharpening his blades and sword, Gimli seemed busy with his axe, and the Hobbits were here too, making some sort of stew. Legolas was nowhere to be found though, and Emery found herself dropping her shoulders in slight disappointment. Besides him, Gandalf was still nowhere to be found.

Emery sighed and walked over to a trunk to sit on. Faramir was the first to look up and greeted her with a dip of his head.

"Hi everyone", she greeted with a smile.

"Lady Emery," Gimli said as he looked up as well. He laid down his axe and stood up, walking over to her. "Lemme guess… you haven't eaten since yesterday's supper?"

Emery laughed. "How did you know?"

"Hi Emery!" Pippin called from the fire pit. "We were making you some stew!"

"Yes," Merry added, "we stole some of that good meat from the kitchen."

Emery rolled her eyes. "I understand…" she mumbled and sat down on the trunk. The rest of the afternoon she spent with these men, enjoying the unimportant chatter between them.

But still, Emery found it a shame that Legolas wasn't here. She looked forward to talking with him when she was walking towards the camp with Aragorn. She frowned at herself, realizing what she was thinking. _Stupid_ , she thought to herself, and focused on the conversation between the Hobbits and Gimli again.

That night, the Company had another dinner with the Elves. The vibe was way less awkward, and everyone was talking with each other in high spirits. The Lord and Lady of Lórien were not there though, and Emery figured they only were present yesterday because of the arrival of the Company.

The days flew by. Every morning, she went to see Hinnorel, listening to her stories of her childhood, her adventures with her sister Thaliel and sometimes about Éadan. The two became more at ease around each other, often strolling through the forests of the realm. Still, Emery wasn't able to call her mother just yet. It was pretty confusing, sometimes she thought about home and her mom- her _adoptive_ mom. But becoming at ease around Hinnorel seemed to happen easily, and Emery didn't mind at all.

As if it were some ritual between friends, Emery would spar with Aragorn after meeting up with Hinnorel, wanting to improve her skills with a blade. Sometimes, they spotted Ava and Rúmil doing the same. The two seemed to become close to one another, and Emery noticed she saw her best friend less than she normally did. Ava always woke up earlier than she did, so no one ever answered the door when Emery knocked on it.

She missed Ava, but found that she also had a great time when she was with the Company. She often had lunch with them and spent the afternoon with them. Not often would Emery find the chance to talk with Legolas; he usually accompanied Orophin and the other Elves during their patrols.

Today, it was the sixth day, and Gandalf had still not returned. Emery was growing more and more impatient with every passing day. She had much to talk about with him, and right when she needed him the most, he had disappeared mysteriously.

That day, in the early bright, Emery and Aragorn were having a spar like past days. They had been doing so for over an hour already, but Emery became more and more in shape. Yesterday she had even started jogging again, which she used to do back home. It made her feel refreshing, and she noticed it had great effect on the sword fighting. She had improved in these six days. It wasn't that much- she obviously wasn't as good as Ava or Aragorn, but it was something. She could now easily avoid blows, but attacking was a bit harder. Aragorn still disarmed her now and then, when Emery would forget to hold her sword tightly. This, however, happened rarely.

Emery groaned when Aragorn again clung his sword against hers in order to stop her blow. She shed her sword and spun around to attack him from another angle, but Aragorn had expected her to do that and swung his sword towards her, stopping just in time at her neck.

"You are becoming rather predictable, Emery", he said with the tip pointed at her throat.

Emery huffed and took a pass back. "Alright, you killed me," she said, rolling her eyes. "Again."

Aragorn chuckled, and they started over.

He lunged forward, his sword in one hand. Emery stepped to the side to avoid him and then swept her sword towards him. He recovered quickly though and their blades clung in the air. For a short second, Emery wondered what to do next. She couldn't repeat the move she had made last time, so would should she do now? She wasn't good at attacking, but luckily for her, Aragorn made the next move. They sparred for over 20 minutes, and Emery felt weary and excited at the same time. She had never pulled it off for so long with Aragorn, and somehow, she could handle the fast movements, defending herself as he approached her time after time.

One moment, their swords clung again, and Aragorn shed his blade from hers. He then aimed for her waist, but Emery leaped backwards and then immediately passed forward again, catching him off guard as she finally, _finally_ , got him by the throat like he had done to her before.

"Was that predictable, king Aragorn?" she asked with a smirk.

He returned that smirk and before she knew it, Emery's sword was lying on the ground out of their circle. Emery gasped and drew her now empty hand back, surprised.

"No, my Lady," he mocked, "but one must never speak too soon."

Emery sighed dramatically as she rolled her eyes. "I had you! You would be dead if I didn't stop that blade from slicing through your throat!"

Aragorn simply shrugged. "But you did stop."

She squeezed her hands into fists, upset. She had beaten him! Why couldn't he just accept that? Aragorn frowned at her. "Aren't you going to get your sword?" he asked with a cocked head.

Emery turned her head to the sword and suddenly got an idea. She looked back to Aragorn, a grin playing on her face. "Battle's not over yet", she said cocky and held her fists in front of her. _I'm gonna kick your kingly ass_ , she thought with a smirk. Aragorn's frown deepened.

"You are going to fight me without a weapon?" he asked with raised eyebrows, unimpressed.

"No", she disagreed, knowing very well that she did have a weapon, and that weapon as her own body.

Aragorn shrugged, and then held his sword vertically in front of his face. Emery didn't move, she only clenched her fist tighter in anticipation. She thought about how she could strike best. He would attack first, like he usually did, and leap forward. The only thing she had to do is step out of the way, which would cause him to lose his balance, and she did exactly just that when Aragorn quickly approached her with his sword.

He indeed struggled to hold his balance for a short two seconds, and Emery used his disorientation to punch him in the chest. He stumbled backwards but almost immediately stroke again. Emery ducked, feeling the blade swing through the air just above her pony tail. She straightened up again, but dodged right away just in time; a moment later and he would have sliced through her chest.

Emery stepped backwards, and for a few long seconds, they both just circled each other. The tension and anticipation lingered between them, and both were totally oblivious to the fact that they had spectators. Ava and Rúmil were the first ones to watch, and in only a short time, more and more Elves gathered around the two, whispering quietly and betting who would win.

"No," Ava whispered to Rúmil, shaking her head, "I know Emery better than anyone; she'll beat him easily."

Aragorn and Emery stroke at exactly the same time, Aragorn leaping forward as Emery just stepped back with her right leg. As Aragorn held his sword in front of him with one hand, Emery swung her leg to that right hand, hitting it with her instep. He cried out as his wrist snapped and dropped his sword. Emery smirked, pleased to see he now had to defend himself without a weapon as well.

The ring was now fully encircled with Elves, and only now Emery heard them cheer and saw the many people watching. She also caught sight of Legolas, who looked at her with an impressed look on his face. She smirked and went back to turn to Aragorn, but her cheek connected with a fist instantly- or rather, Aragorn's fist connected with her face.

"Ow!" she scolded and pursed her lips, refusing to bring her hand to her face. She shook her head and refocused to see Aragorn with a smug grin playing across his face. She gritted her teeth and pulled her pony tail tighter, then brought her fists to her defense position again.

 _Guess it's gonna be a hand-to-hand combat after all_ , she thought to herself as she quickly stretched her neck. _Was about time_.

They circled each other again, and then approached each other, stopping half way and Emery grabbed him by his collar. She could feel how Aragorn was hesitating to touch or hurt her, and took advantage of his hesitation. In one quick movement, she pulled him up with her arm/Elf strength- which she had gained a lot past months, and pushed him down the floor on his back.

Aragorn groaned while the Elves cheered again, urging her to go further. She bent down to strike again, but he was first as he reached for her neck, using her weight to come back to his feet. Emery was disorientated and Aragorn used it as he folded his arms around her neck tightly, dragging her with him backwards. She struggled in his grip, hands to his lower arm around her neck as she tried to place her feet back on the ground, and then elbowed him in the face.

He loosened his arm and Emery quickly escaped from his grip. She turned around to face him, seeing how his hand snatched up to his nose, checking if it was broken. A look of concern suddenly crossed her face, worrying that she might have actually broken it.

"Are you okay?" she said as she approached him carefully, not sure if he was faking it or not. Aragorn didn't answer and kept his head low. She walked closer to him, cautiously touching his shoulder. Suddenly, in a swift movement, Aragorn ducked and Emery whirled over his shoulder, hitting the ground with her back. She groaned in pain and arched her back, gritting her teeth while she shut her eyes.

The people around them let out an "Oooh…" and some cheered for Aragorn, yelling "I told you!" and "I knew she wasn't strong enough!". She opened her eyes and saw Aragorn had his hand reached out for her. She took it with a huff and quickly got back to her feet. Once she stood and before Aragorn could even turn around, Emery kicked him backwards in the back of his knees, hard. His legs automatically bent and he fell face down to the ground, the crowd cheering at her comeback.

Emery walked back to him and squatted beside him with a wide grin. "I hope I won't be accused with violence against the King", she said sarcastically.

Aragorn sat up and chuckled. "No, you won't," he said. "That was quite good, Emery."

Emery smiled, feeling satisfied with the compliment. She stood up and held out her hand to the King, which he took thankfully. She turned around to the crowd that had been circling them during their little romp. She met Ava's gaze, who was smiling at her proudly. She walked over to her, wanting to hug her, but stopped.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, "I'm sweaty."

Ava looked at her in disgust. "Ew, go shower or something!"

"Bathe", Emery said with a grin. Ava rolled her eyes and looked around her. "Guess you like being the center of attention after all, huh?"

Emery huffed. "I'll see you at dinner," she said, mockingly dismissing her best friend. She turned around, scanning the field. "Now, where is that sword of mine?"

She walked over the field, looking around her intently in order to find the blade. She suddenly bumped into someone's chest and Emery shrieked. She looked up and locked her eyes with blue ones.

"Legolas," she breathed, "I didn't see you coming."

He smiled. "You lost this?" he asked as he held the sword she had borrowed from the armory. Emery smiled back. "Yes, I did," she said and took it from him. "Thanks."

"I must say," he said after a brief silence, turning to some Elves she recognized as Orophin and other guards, "those Wardens are very interested in you and your combat skills. Would you lunch with us?"

Emery glanced over to the Elves, who were talking in Sindarin. She grinned, hearing them talk about how she had elbowed a king. It was weird, being in the spotlights like this. At the beginning of what firstly was a spar, she hadn't even noticed that people were watching her and Aragorn. Normally, she wouldn't have liked it, but right now she did. How people were surprised by her strength… it gave her confidence, which was good for her. As long as she didn't get to confident.

"Yes, sure," she said, "sounds nice."

And so, Emery walked along with the guards and Legolas, being questioned about her skills. Where had she learn that? How long had she been doing it? How old was she when she started? The last two questions were hard to answer, since she couldn't just tell them her real age.

Lunch was nice, and Emery soon found that the Elven Wardens were very amusing and funny. They joked around a lot, talking in Sindarin. Emery was glad she could speak the beautiful language, the words flowing fluently from her tongue. She would often glance over to Legolas unknowingly, listening as the words he spoke sounded like music from his ears. She was happy to see and talk with him again after those six days she only saw him at dinner.

Emery didn't notice someone had approached Orophin, whispering words in his ear. His eyes widened for a short moment and then went back to blank. He nodded, drank his last bit of wine and stood up.

"We must go," he announced. "Gandalf has arrived."

Emery gasped and got to her feet in an instant. She followed them through the woods and the halls of Lórien, already sorting out the questions she was going to ask the wizard. She was pissed at him, but decided it better to apologize first for her behavior seven days ago.

She looked at Legolas, who was walking in front of her. Her eyes darted across his back, and the bow and arrow he always seemed to wear. His posture was so straight, gentlemanly and so… sexy?

Emery shook her head furiously. What was happening to her? Why was she thinking so like that? _Stop it_ , she snapped to herself. She looked back to Legolas, and her eyes were drawn to something a little lower than his back. _STOP IT!_ Her eyes immediately diverted from him and she forced herself to look at the trees around her.

They arrived in some sort of main hall, where the Company already stood or sat. Gandalf was talking with Aragorn and looked up when the guards, Legolas and Emery walked in. He sighed and smiled at the latter, and Emery swore she saw a sparkle of mischief in them. The old wizard nodded towards a table, where Ava was sitting, talking to someone.

Emery glanced at them curiously, trying to see who Ava was talking to. She caught sight of long, black hair, and for a short second Emery thought Ava had made a new female friend. But then she saw a sharp jawline, and the way the mystery person sat made Emery jump to the conclusion it was a male. A male _Elf_ , she pointed out to herself, spotting his pointed ears.

When the Elf turned his head sideways after Ava had nodded towards Emery, she gasped in surprise. A hand flew to her mouth as she widened her eyes. She locked eyes with familiar green ones, which were almost identically with hers. A grey spark was seen in them and Emery's eyes filled with tears as a name rolled of her tongue.

"Thomas?"

* * *

 **BOOM! Soooo... that was that...**

 **Did you like it? What did you think of the little spar and romp between Aragorn and Emery?**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! I'M BEGGING YOU, THEY MAKE ME REALLY REALLY REALLY HAPPY!**

 **Now, I have to go to bed (dutch time here, ya know), so see you next time!**

 **-xoxo-**


	18. A Long One

**CHAPTER XVIII – A Long One**

 **Dear dear readers.**

 **I'm sorry for the late update, but a lot has happened these past weeks. Almost three weeks ago, my knee did something weird: I had a knee dislocation during dance classes... Luckily, I don't have to wear my knee brace anymore, and am finally able to walk a bit more, but unfortunately I am not allowed to dance for a minimum of 3 months...**

 **Anyways, next to that, school went on and I had loads of deadlines and tests. BUT, here the chapter finally is, and I have an announcement and question.**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT: This is the LAST CHAPTER OF PART ONE, and it's a long one as the title says (It has like 11K words in it, oops, sorry not sorry).**

 **QUESTION: I am in a dillemma; should I post the next part as a NEW story, so that it's like a trilogy, or in THIS story, so that it's a big novel?**

 **Please let me know what you think in the reviews! Anyways, I will no longer hold you guys up.** **This last chapter of part I will explain a LOT, and there's a lot of dialogues actually. Enjoy reading this chap!**

* * *

 _"_ _Thomas?"_

The name came out in a hoarse whisper and Emery tried to swallow the lump in her throat away. She stood there in the hall, paralyzed, and oblivious to the curious glances she received of the people around her. As if pushed by the wind, she found herself lean forward and fall on her right foot, then ran towards the black-haired Elf. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and she fell into his arms, feeling the familiarity as they closed around her.

Tears rolled down her eyes and over her cheeks, sobs escaped her mouth, and her arms tightened around his neck while she cried. She wasn't able to keep herself in check and cried loudly, her hiccoughs filling the quiet room. The embrace lasted for a whole minute before she finally pulled away to look in his green eyes, that grey spark in his left eye. Despite the fair Elven features on his face and the pointed ears, she had recognized him in an instant.

Emery smiled at her brother, feeling overwhelmed that he was here. But then, she frowned. The million questions she'd had for Gandalf only minutes ago, where replaced by billions of new ones. Why was he here? How did he come here? How long had he been in this world? It made her head go spinning, and Thomas had to steady Emery from falling.

She looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Wha… Why..?" she said, not being able to find the words. He shushed her. "Easy, sis," he said with a smile, "I'll tell you everything."

Right at that moment, Gandalf walked over to them. He smiled at Emery and nodded. "How about you three go catch up with each other? Come, follow me."

Emery nodded and followed the wizard, staying at Thomas' side as they walked through the woods. For the second day of September it was fairly warm, but there was a light breeze making the leaves on the trees dance above the ground. They walked on and on, until Gandalf stopped in another Garden of Lórien.

It still surprised Emery of how many there were here, and they all shared the same beauty of nature. This one however, nestled deep into the woods, far from the flets and center of the city, and had many statues of Elven warriors and maidens. Some trees weren't as high as the enormous mallorn trees Lórien was known for, but they were as green nevertheless. The garden was also really colorful with its many flowers. Emery had to take a moment to take in such beauty she didn't even know existed!

"I will leave you alone now," Gandalf said, but before he walked away, he turned to Emery and Ava. "If you have any further questions, ask me."

The two girls nodded and soon they were left alone with Thomas in the garden. Emery sighed and turned to her brother. "Tell me everything", she said and walked to a random bench, Ava and Thomas following her. He nodded and sat down beside her, sitting casually with his leg crossed over the other.

"I don't even know where to start, Em", he said with a sigh. A short silence.

"How long were we gone?" Ava then asked carefully, and even though she had already calculated this, she had to know for sure.

Thomas looked at her with a sad smile. "More than eight years."

Ava lowered her head, fighting back the tears. Emery also blinked the tears away that were almost falling. It was surreal. They had spent two months here, and the time had gone by so fast. It was unbelievable that they had been away for eight years. They'd both be 28 years old if they hadn't been in Middle Earth. Maybe they would've been married, and maybe they would even have their first child.

"So… you're 28 right now?" Emery asked.

Her brother laughed. "Yes," he replied with a grin, "you know I've always been the oldest." She huffed and rolled her eyes. "No need to remind me that. But please, tell me more. I want to know what I missed in these years."

Thomas straightened up and started his story. "You disappeared. It even was on the news. I had no idea where you were, and I was scared you had died. It was horrible Emery. They couldn't explain a thing. Some thought you were abducted in a bookstore, some think you ran away after going to London… I didn't know what to think, so I decided best to think you were gone, dead. That wasn't until two years after you two disappeared though."

"Wait," Emery interrupted, "you had been looking for us for two years?"

"No," he replied, "they were just thoughts. There was nothing I could do. There was no evidence at all, and after a year, they declared it as a cold case. I wasn't ready for that, and I dwelled on it for a year… but there was nothing for me to do than to accept it."

Emery heard Ava exhale through her mouth on the other side of Thomas. She knew her best friend was thinking about her sister and her parents, who had probably moved on as well.

"One night," Thomas continued, "mom and dad said they wanted to tell me something. They were acting all suspicious and suddenly told me about this crazy world called Arda, or Middle Earth. I thought they were crazy when they said you were taken there by a wizard, and I ran away. I really thought them mad, you know? How could they possibly come up with that story and tell me two years after your disappearance?"

"Mom and dad knew?" Emery asked confused, widening her eyes. "How?" This was getting more and more crazy. And more and more questions were racing through her mind.

Thomas nodded slowly. "Yes, but I didn't know it was true back then. I came back the next day and we pretty much pretended nothing had happened. A month later though, they tried to tell me again. Let's say… we fought a lot for that next one and a half year. Eventually, things got so bad that I moved out."

"You moved out?" Emery repeated, furrowing her eyebrows.

Again, her brother nodded, feeling ashamed he hadn't believed his own parents right away. "I did. But it wasn't just because of the fights. I mean, I was 22, so I had to find my own place someday, right? Lucia and I found a condo and the next moment, we moved." He paused, ducking his head as he felt even more ashamed. "The worst thing is… I cut them off."

Emery frowned. "What do you mean?" she demanded sternly. "Thomas, what do you mean with 'cut them off?'"

He sighed. "They called me often, but I never answered the phone," he said. "We hadn't talked for three years."

Emery's eyes grew wide, and even though Ava didn't have anything to do with it, she frowned. "What?!" Emery said loudly. She saw her brother tense, and she softened, knowing very well he regretted it much and that the fight probably wasn't one-sided. Yes, her parents had spoken the truth, but she knew she wouldn't have believed them as well if they told her about a world with Elves, Dwarves and monstrous creatures. There was a long silence, filled with tension as Emery reasoned this in her head. "Was it that bad, Thom?"

Thomas nodded. "It was. We were one hell of a broken family without you, Em. Sometimes I was this close to calling them, but my phone always ended up in my pocket."

"What did Lucia think of it all?"

"We broke up."

Emery nodded and hummed. "Oh", she said, knowing her brother didn't want to talk about that. She gestured him to go on.

"One morning, almost four years after I moved out, they suddenly called me," he said. "They wanted me to come over for dinner, and they wanted to apologize. I said yes, so I came, and we apologized to each other. But during that evening, an old man suddenly knocked on the door. Apparently mom and dad knew him, and introduced him as Gandalf."

Ava huffed, already half-expecting this, while Emery was surprised. "He knows where we live?"

"Yes," Thomas replied, "and he knows mom and dad really well." He paused, only to continue while talking fast. "Then, they suddenly sat me down, told me that you and I were adopted, Gandalf showed me some magic and let me page through a book; proving that mom and dad had been right all along."

It was quiet for a moment until Ava sighed. "Wow, that must've been overwhelming. How'd you react to all that?"

Thomas didn't answer that and ducked his head again. "Thomas?" Ava asked confused and concerned. "You alright?" He again didn't answer. Emery frowned, but then it clicked.

"Thom?" she asked, stretching his name out. "don't tell me you fainted."

He looked at her, face blank. "Oh my God, Thom! You FAINTED!"

"Wouldn't you?!" he yelled back.

"Perhaps, but you're 28! The last time you fainted was when I broke my wrist when we were 15!" she shot back, laughing. Gosh, she'd give anything to see that. Her always so 'cool' brother fainted at the sight of some magic.

Okay, maybe it was new and weird for him, but come on, fainting?

"Oh, shut up!" he gave her a push with his elbow.

"But how did you come here?" Ava asked once they stopped laughing. "Emery told me that the bookstore we went to in London was some sort of doorway to Gondor."

Thomas turned to the blonde girl, and Emery leaned over. "When I learned- and finally accepted the truth, mom and dad helped me plan my departure. I'd go to London, to the bookstore, and meet Gandalf there. But first, we had to figure out all sorts of things. Was it the right time? What month would it be there? Gandalf told me that you have only lived two months, while I lived eight years. That was really weird to realize."

"Now that I think of it… what month was it when we arrived here, Em?" Ava asked as she leaned over to see Emery properly.

Emery thought about it. "Uhm… Two months ago, so the beginning of July I think?"

"But we went to London during Spring Break, in April."

Thomas nodded. "Yes, that was a complicated thing too. Middle Earth was three months further than we were, so we had to pick the right moment. I left mom and dad in June."

"That's what I saw!" Emery said loudly as she realized this. "I saw you in the mirror! I thought you just left them." Emery's eyes widened and she gasped. "Do you have the journal?"

Her eyes followed his movements as he grabbed his bag and stuck his hand inside of it. He seemed to have found it, and drew his arm back, handing over Hinnorel's diary.

"They gave it to me on the evening I left, saying I would understand once I get here. I had no idea what the writings meant, they just looked like scribbles to me. I haven't read it yet, I know you wanted to read it first."

She took the journal from him and traced her fingers along the brown leather cover. She looked up at Thomas. "Thank you", she almost whispered. Emery wanted to open the diary and read, but set her curiosity aside and kept it closed, but close to her.

"But if your parents knew about this world and your history," Ava began, "why didn't they tell you about the bookstore when we were going to London?"

Emery shrugged, not knowing the answer. "They did say something strange to me," Thomas said. The two girls looked at him in question. "Mom said that they knew we'd have to leave, but didn't expect it to be so soon. Especially you, Em. She told me time had flown by, and before she knew it, 'fate interfered'."

"Jesus," Emery said as she stared at the flower bushes in front of her. "So it was our 'destiny' to be here?"

Thomas couldn't answer that question; he now knew just as much as Emery did. The question sounded strange to their ears, it sounded surreal. Fate. Destiny. They never gave much thought of it, and now it had brought them here. Ava couldn't help but wonder if her arrival here was accidental, or if it indeed was fate. She had no ties to this world; she had just followed her best friend in the bookstore.

The next two hours they spent talking with each other. He first asked them how they arrived here, and then gradually changed the subject to lighter ones. Emery and Ava talked about their new-found hobbies, the city, the fact that Emery could speak Sindarin, and much more; leaving the bad out. Emery was extremely happy her twin brother was here; she had missed him more than anyone else. They joked, wandered around the garden, chattered and blabbered, and talked about the beauty of Elves. It felt refreshing, finally being able to talk with someone of their old familiar lives. Eventually, they walked out of the garden, strolling aimlessly through the woods and admiring Lórien's natural beauty.

Emery still held on to Hinnorel's diary tightly, clutching it to her chest as she walked. Thomas carried his heavy Nike gym bag, which was a pretty odd sight in this world.

"Have you met her?" he suddenly asked Emery. "Have you already met Hinnorel?"

Emery looked up at him, surprised she had forgotten about the fact he had yet to meet their biological mother. She nodded and could see Thomas' curiosity grow. "How is she?" he asked, becoming excited. "Is she nice?"

"She's nice, yes," Emery said, looking away. "The last few days I've grown very fond of her. First, I was pretty hesitant, you know? How should I approach her? Should I call her mom? But I just call her Hinnorel and everything is fine; she understands."

"When do you think I can see her?"

She glanced over at him sideways with a grin. "Now."

With Thomas gone, Ava and Emery walked through the woods of the city. He wanted Emery to be there when he would meet his mother, but she urged him to go alone. He had been nervous as hell, asking Emery for things he should or should not say. She had told him to just ask her the questions he wanted to ask; she would answer.

It was still in the afternoon when the two climbed up a staircase that leaded them to many tailors, smiths and much more. At one moment, they walked past two beautifully flower-engraved doors. They were large and prestigious, and it made the girls wonder what was behind them. They slowed their pace, and stopped when someone suddenly walked out of it. The Elf had a book in his hands, and Emery and Ava peered through the gap of the door. Emery let out a gasp, and they met each other's wide eyes. They hurried inside and that next moment, they found themselves in… a library!

Another gasp escaped her mouth as Emery looked around her in awe. The ceiling was high above them, and the bookcases along the walls climbed their way up to their limit. That ceiling, by the way, was decorated with many paintings, and it reminded Emery of the arts of the Classic Era with the Greeks and Romans. Couches with soft and comfortable looking cushions were spread across the large amount of space, most of them already occupied by Elves who were reading in silence. It truly was a sight to behold, and Emery looked back at Ava, who had the same awe written all over her face.

"This… this is what heaven must look like", Emery sighed satisfied. Ava could only nod in agreement, and then they both stalked off to the nearest bookcase. Emery found herself paging through books about the legends and mythologies of Elves and Men, and she immediately dove right in. She was more than glad she was able to read Sindarin; the people who had written these stories were excellently skilled.

Ava however, had more difficulty. There was only one bookcase with books written in Common Speech. These were mostly about the history of Middle Earth, and even though she'd never really liked history, they were interesting to read. Why not a little knowledge about the world she now lived in, right?

Emery sat down on an antique looking chaise longue, feeling excited to finally read again after two months. Now, for many young guys and girls that wouldn't be long, but Emery was obsessed with reading. You could say she was a really diverse girl: a reading-obsessed, singing kickboxer girl. That's what her parents used to say. She smiled as she thought about them. "You're a strange girl, Emery," her mom had once said after walking in her room, finding her fallen asleep in her window seat with a book in her hands. "I often wonder what in the world urged you to start kickboxing. It doesn't fit in with your hobbies at all, yet you do it better than anything else."

Even though she had tried to put the feeling past her, Emery still missed her mom and dad like crazy. And that was the moment she realized something. It wasn't a bad thing to miss those who had been with her from the beginning. Who had seen her grow into the person she was now and had helped her when she was in trouble. Who had learned her what family meant, and what the purpose of things in life were. Who had taught her to be proper and nice to people. That wasn't bad. _Just don't dwell on it_ , she thought to herself. It was clear that she would stay here. She had Hinnorel, her biological mother, whom she was about to get to know better. And if Thomas was right, than Middle Earth was her place. This was where she belonged.

She sighed, but it was determined, and continued reading the book about the Gods of Middle Earth, the Valar. It was interesting, and she learned about how Middle Earth was created, which was similar to God's Creation of Earth. She read about how some evil God Melkor, though now known as Morgoth, tried to cross that creation, and it was almost like a fictional story to her. She showed it to Ava, and they talked quietly about the books they were both reading.

The next few hours they dwelled in the library, picking out book after book, reading legends after legends. They were more than captivated of the Elvish literature, and Emery could easily say that even the best stories on Earth couldn't even compare to this level of skill. Next to that, the illustrations were hypnotizing. Whoever drew these pictures was more talented than every artist she had ever seen.

It was twilight when they were pushed back into reality. Emery and Ava were one of the last to be there, and Emery jolted up from her book when she suddenly remembered they were supposed to be at dinner. She tapped Ava on her shoulder and the next moment they were hurrying to their rooms. The girls quickly changed into their more formal gowns and met back outside.

"You ready?" Ava asked.

Emery nodded. "I only hope Thomas has had a nice afternoon. I can't believe I just forgot about him!"

They walked to the dinner hall, Emery feeling uncomfortable and not dressed properly. She had just randomly picked a purplish dress, and her hair was still tied in a sloppy braid. She glanced over to Ava; her hair was tied up beautifully, and she couldn't help feeling insecure of herself again. Why was everyone around them so pretty? Why couldn't she have beautiful blonde hair with highlights? Why did she have to have boring black hair?

After a few minutes they arrived in the room, finding everyone already seated. Emery wondered if they had waited especially for her and Ava, and blushed when she realized they indeed had held them up from eating their supper. They rushed themselves to their seats, Emery not liking the attention they were getting.

She sat down on her chair in front of Legolas, next to Thomas' seat. Her brother smiled at her. "Hey sis", he greeted. "Hi," she smiled back, "how was it with Hinnorel?"

His smile grew wider and Emery cocked her head curiously. "I'll tell you later", he said.

Thomas turned away from her and started talking with Gimli, who was seated in front of him. She honestly hadn't expected her brother to get along that well with Dwarves. She would've thought he would freak out, or maybe even pass out again if he saw them. She frowned. She should have introduced him to the Company, she realized. But on the other hand, he seemed to be doing just fine; the social butterfly he was and always had been. No doubt meeting Hinnorel today had gone flawlessly for him.

Emery smiled at herself and looked around, trying to see where everyone was seated. She spotted Gandalf, talking to the Lord and Lady in hushed tones. She knew better than to eavesdrop; she had done that more than enough times already. She did wonder what he was telling them though, but she looked away when Galadriel looked up and met her gaze.

Her eyes soon found Hinnorel, seated closely to Galadriel and Celeborn, and she was talking to a blond Elf she hadn't seen before, but looked familiar to her nonetheless. She cocked her head curiously before looking at Legolas in front of her.

"Who is that?" she asked him.

Without seeing who she referred to he smiled. "Rúmil's brother, Haldir," he said. "He arrived today with Mithrandir and your brother."

"Haldir," she repeated softly. "He is the original March Warden, isn't he?"

She knew him as the Elf her real father had given his life for. And here Hinnorel was, talking casually with him. Emery knew she wasn't the person to resent, but she wondered if even a little part of her blamed him.

Legolas nodded. "Yes," he said, "from what I have heard, he has just returned from Ithilien after setting up the Ridder mark."

Emery nodded as well in understanding and continued eating her meal. She listened as Ava and Rúmil talked to each other and smiled. The conversation they were having went from one topic to another, Ava the chatterer she was. Emery noticed her best friend was at ease around the Elf, but on the other side she seemed nervous about herself. Emery was gonna have to talk to her about it, and she felt excited for her friend.

On the other hand, Rúmil was an Elf. He was immortal, and Ava was not. Did she know what she was getting herself into? Did Emery have to talk some sense in the girl, or should she support her? How would it end? What if she died of old age and only Rúmil remained? Elves could die of grief, would he die too?

Emery shook her head to herself. It wasn't that far yet. Now, Rúmil seemed only like a crush to Ava, and maybe it would never become something more.

"Are you alright?"

She jolted out of her thoughts and looked up at Legolas again. He was looking at her with a friendly smile, but also slightly concerned.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking about some stuff."

He gave her a skeptical look, but didn't ask further and changed the subject. "Why were you so late actually?" he asked curiously.

Emery laughed. "Ava and I found the library", she explained, thinking back of the many books in that beautiful place. "Only now?" he asked with a frown, surprised they hadn't seen it yet.

"Yes, I was surprised too. But wow, what a beautiful library! I've never seen so many books in one space," she said, her voice filling with almost passion as she spoke about it. "And the stories… Every book is written with knowledge and passion. I think that if I hadn't thought about dinner, I would've stayed there this whole week, lost in thousands of books!"

Legolas looked at her with amusement. "You seem to be quite taken with stories", he claimed. Emery nodded with a smile. "I've loved reading since I was _able_ to read."

"When were you able to read?" he asked, and Emery frowned. What kind of question was that? "I guess since my fourth or something?"

"And you lived in a small village in Gondor?"

Shit. She now understood what he was aiming for. Gandalf, seated further away from her, but yet in hearing distance, looked up at her with a stern expression, telling her to be careful without words. Of course, Emery, Ava _and_ Thomas had lived in a small village; that was their cover-up. But Emery had forgotten that most Men were illiterate, well, at least those who were less important. What was she gonna say now?

"Uhm, yes, that's true," she stammered. "But my adoptive parents found it important to be able to read and write. They had learned it in their past and wanted a better future for Thomas and me."

After a brief silence he nodded, but she knew he was becoming rather suspicious. And she totally understood that; it was a vague story. How long was she gonna have to keep silent that she came from another world? How long would she have to keep her secret? She hated to keep this hidden from her friends.

"What stories do you like?" he finally asked, and Emery smiled at the question.

"Legends," she said. "Myths, Gods, heroes and villains. There are tons and tons of those books I love to read. Sometimes a little romance doesn't hurt, but I like to read about the battles and victories. I also read about the Númenoréans; that's really interesting."

So the rest of their dinner, Legolas and Emery talked about books and the history of Middle Earth. She learned (without giving away she didn't know that) that many stories she had read were actually real, like Beren and Lúthien. She had guessed that they were just stories like the Roman myths, but apparently the Elves and Men actually believed them to be true.

She found she could talk easily with Legolas and she was glad that they were becoming more befriended instead of just acquainted. And the conversations weren't chit chat at all; they talked about books and stories, art and music. But all too soon, everyone had finished their meals, and Emery realized something with a broad smile. Time flies by when you're having fun.

"You've changed."

Emery looked up at her brother, eyes curious as she urged him to explain.

He looked back at the trees they were walking through, as they were on their way to the guest flet. "You're more sociable, I think. Can't really explain."

Emery chuckled. "Did you that when Ava and I first got here, I sang for them at dinner?"

Thomas widened his eyes and looked at Emery in surprise. "Really?" he asked. "Never expected that to happen."

"Me neither," Emery laughed. "Ava kinda forced me."

"And?"

"I liked it."

Thomas now stopped walking and looked Emery in the eye. "You _liked_ being center-stage?" Emery nodded hesitantly. "But I don't think I'll do it again. I don't know any songs they might like."

"Wait," he said, "you sang THE song?"

She nodded. "Yes," she sighed, "I sang THE song." Thomas was beyond surprised: Emery _never_ sang in front of people, let alone sing her own song! She always was way too shy to do that.

"Again, didn't expect that", he said.

"Well," Emery said, "a lot has happened since our arrival in this world."

And so she told him everything again, but way more detailed. She told him about the White City of Minas Tirith in Gondor, and how she lived and worked there. She told him how she met the Company and why Ava and she had traveled with them, and of course how Gandalf told her of her roots. Then, she got to the journey and the first orc attack, which was why Emery and Ava split up. As she went on, Thomas was amazed by the fact that she had met two mighty kings: Aragorn of Gondor if course, and Éomer of Rohan. Emery told her brother about her friendship with Legolas, but less detailed than the rest (he was a very protective over his now way younger sister). The second ambush, Fangorn Forest and Treebeard also came along, which had left Thomas wide eyed and speechless.

"How are you not traumatized?" he asked unbelievably. Emery frowned, not seeming to know the answer for a while. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Perhaps because everything has gone so fast. Only now, in Lórien, I have had the time to think about everything I've been through these two months."

He nodded, but he wondered if it really didn't have any effect at all, or if his sister was just really good at not showing it. Maybe she herself didn't even know it was still affecting her, the stubborn creature that she was.

"So," he finally said, "what do you do every day here? This city certainly can't get boring here right?"

Emery smiled. "True," she said. "I already have a routine actually. Do you want to run along with me tomorrow? You haven't seen the training grounds yet, and I talk often to Hinnorel, so…"

She looked at him for confirmation. Her brother was smiling happily. "Yeah, sure!" he said almost excited.

"By the way," Emery said, "you haven't even told me yet about how it was with Hinnorel."

"She's really nice," Thomas replied. "She told me about Éadan and how she met him and stuff. Oh, did you know my name is actually Rochirion? Sick name, man."

Emery chuckled. "Yeah, it's a bit different than Thomas, I guess. But I take it you like the name?"

He tilted his head thought. "Maybe," he said, "but I've lived with the name Thomas for too long to change it."

She nodded in agreement. "Same. I thought Amariel was a strange name too-"

"I think it's pretty," Thomas interrupted. "But let me guess… it sounds too much like Ariel?"

Emery laughed. "You know me too well," she said. "But hey, we could use it as a second name or something? Aurelia is pretty, yeah, but that doesn't really mean anything. Amariel has like, a special meaning."

Thomas laughed too and nodded. "Thomas Rochirion Liliath… I don't know what to think of it."

That next day, Emery stood in front of Thomas' door by sunrise. He was already given a room, not far from her and Ava's. It took her brother more than twenty seconds to open the door, and when he did, his eyes grew wide.

"Oh, shit!" he said when he saw Emery all freshened up in this early morning. "I forgot, sorry." He quickly closed the door, and she could hear him stumbling tiredly in his room. She sighed and waited outside the door. Only two minutes later he opened the door again and joined her on her way to Hinnorel.

She didn't live in the Healing Quarters anymore; she finally was fully healed. Two days ago, it had been the first time to see a flet from the inside, and Emery had discovered there actually wasn't really an 'inside'. The flet had a roof of course, but where should've been a window, was an open space instead of glass.

They stayed there for breakfast, talking casually while eating. Emery was more than happy that Thomas was easy-going around her, not asking too many or heavy questions. But once they were done eating, Emery finally pulled the journal out.

"I, uhm," she said, "I found this back on Earth when I was 14 or something." She showed the diary to Hinnorel, who was looking at it with wide eyes. "My journal", she almost whispered.

Emery handed it over to her. "I couldn't read it, only when I met you I realized you were the one who had written it, since I could only understand your name," she continued. "And now I didn't want to read it, because, well, it's private of course."

Hinnorel traced her fingers along the cover, just like Emery always did, and laughed. "I actually gave Gandalf this when you went away," she said, "I wanted you to know what happened and why things are the way they are. Foolish, I forgot Sindarin doesn't exist in your world." She looked up to Thomas and smiled. "How are Anna and Martin faring, Thomas?" she asked, and the twins both frowned in confusion.

"You know our adoptive parents well?" Thomas asked curiously and Hinnorel nodded. "Yes," she replied. "I wanted to know who would take care of my children and whether you would be safe."

"They are doing fine, as far as I know," he said. "Though in their eyes, time had flown by and didn't expect us to go so soon." Hinnorel's smile faded to a sad one. "I understand", was all she said and looked back at Emery. "Here," she said and gave the journal back, "you may read it if you would like."

Emery took it gladly and smiled back. "Thank you," she said. "We must go now, Aragorn is probably waiting for us on the fields."

With that, they left and went on their way to the training grounds. Again, Emery didn't have her own bow with her, wanting to shoot with the Galadhrim bow. These bows were more light-weighted, easy to hold in the hand and much more beautiful than the Gondorian ones.

"My sister, a sword fighter? Yeah right."

Emery looked up from the blade she was inspecting and narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Watch yourself Thom," she warned, "for I am the one with a weapon here." Thomas laughed and took a blade from the wall as well. "Okay, now I have a weapon too", he shot back and tried to whirl the sword.

"Stop!" Emery shouted and laughed. "You're so childish for a 28 year old! You could have taken out my eye if you carried on with that!"

"Maybe I was aiming for that."

Once they arrived, Aragorn was indeed already waiting for her- but not on his own. Emery stopped walking and frowned. "I didn't know we'd have a spectator today?" she said upon seeing Legolas next to him. Aragorn smiled. "I guess I could say that to you as well, so we are equal now", he said, referring to Thomas. "Can he wield a sword?"

Emery shook her head with a smile, thinking about what happened just few minutes earlier. "No," she said, "he's only going to watch."

Aragorn nodded, and Emery looked at her brother. Thomas looked a bit nervous, as if uncertain what to do. Emery frowned. She'd never seen him this awkward before, and she wondered what it was. Then, to Emery's slight horror, Thomas suddenly bowed. He bowed deep, like he wanted to touch his knee with his nose. Emery looked back at Aragorn, who was watching with unease, and Legolas only looked highly amused.

"A pleasure to meet you, king Aragorn of Gondor", Thomas said, still bowing. Emery sighed. So that's what it was about. She elbowed him in his side in annoyance and embarrassment. "Thomas, back up!" she hissed, and he immediately straightened up.

"Do not bow, Thomas," Aragorn said, now looking amused as well. "I am no king here; I am like everybody else." Her brother nodded quickly and went for the trunk to sit down. Emery put her face in her hands to hide her smile, but laughed still. She furiously hoped she hadn't looked like that when she first met Aragorn in Minas Tirith.

Aragorn turned to her. "You will spar with Legolas today."

Emery looked up and her eyes darted from the Man to the Elf. "Legolas?" she repeated. "But I've never changed partners before."

"There is a first time for everything", he replied as he sat down next to Thomas. Her brother could swear she almost pouted and grinned. Why was it so bad for her to change partners?

When Legolas unsheathed his sword, Emery began to feel nervous. She was just starting to feel comfortable around Aragorn whilst sparring, why did she have to change partners now? And with Legolas, for God's sake! She walked into the ring hesitantly, about to say that he shouldn't expect anything from her, but already was caught off guard by his sudden movement. It took her two seconds to realize her sword was on the ground, and she looked at Legolas with a surprised look on her face. She was about to open her mouth, but pursed her lips and grabbed her sword from the ground, ignoring Thomas' chuckling.

She blew a strand of hair out of her face and altered her stance, holding the hilt of her sword near her ear. She waited for him to make the first move, but Legolas was smart, and waited as well. Emery frowned, frustrated that she had to adapt to his way of fighting. After they'd circled each other for a whole minute, Emery stroke by coming at him, and aimed for his waist. He deflected her easily and Emery immediately went for his shoulder. That he deflected as well, so she whirled around and aimed for his head. Legolas dodged and leaped backwards, out of her reach.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, lowering his blade.

Emery frowned. "Maybe I should ask you the same question."

"This is a spar, not a combat," he replied. "Your goal is not killing, but perfecting."

Her frown deepened and she turned to Aragorn. "What does he mean?" she asked confused.

"He means that a spar is about perfecting your techniques", he simply said.

"So I never really sparred with you?" she asked. "Because when we trained, my aim was attacking you." Aragorn nodded. "That is why I asked Legolas to practice with you," he replied. "He knows a lot about techniques."

Emery sighed and turned back to Legolas. "Then why did you attack me at the beginning?" she asked. "I wasn't even ready."

He smiled. "It was a gentle reminder to keep focused."

She scoffed and altered her stance again. "We should start with defending," Legolas said. He pointed to her feet. "Stay grounded. Do not lean forward or backwards. You want to be centered and steady to hold your balance." Emery shifted her weight and then looked back at Legolas for approval. He nodded and readied himself too.

"You are standing in a Guard right now," he said. "There are many, but this one," he paused and gestured to his own stance, "is the best to begin with, because you can easily strike and deflect out of this Guard."

Emery nodded in understanding and mirrored his stance. With that, he leaped forward and stroke, slower than Aragon always did, to make certain she could deflect them all and think them through. As she did this, he'd often stop and explain what exactly she was doing and told her what she could do better or what to do next. It was as if she was right back at the beginning, learning the basics. But Emery now realized that this whole time, she'd just improvised with Aragorn, so she indeed _was_ starting all over.

All the terms of the Guards and the stances lingered in her head, and she became less and less focused. They had been sparring for nearly an hour, and Emery was growing exhausted. Next to that, she hadn't done her morning run yet, so she felt completely out of shape.

 _Deflect, deflect, deflect_.

He'd leap forward and she'd leap backwards, deflecting blows and strikes. It was tiring, and eventually Emery dropped her sword while defending.

"Perhaps we should stop", Legolas finally said as he picked up the sword and gave it back to her. Emery scoffed. "You'd think?" she said sarcastically. "I need water."

Thomas immediately grabbed a flask next to him and threw it to her. She took large gulps, and she felt the refreshing cold water seep into her throat. Her muscles were sore, and her heart was pounding hard as if she had just run the marathon.

"You did well," Aragorn said as he clapped her back. "Tomorrow again."

"Really?" Emery whined. "That's torture!"

"Am I that bad of a company?" Legolas asked mock-offended. Emery rolled her eyes. "If you have a sword in your hand, then yes, you are."

She rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms out, trying to soothe the soreness. She had wanted to practice with her bow after this, but figured there would be no possible way to shoot an arrow- let alone pull the string taut!

With a sigh, she walked over to the trunk where her brother was seated. "So," she said as she plumped down, "that's my morning. Sparring with Aragorn is just as bad. But look! My arms are getting more muscles." She held out her arm and tightened, showing her biceps. Thomas laughed. "Now I understand why this isn't lady-like." Emery pushed him playfully. "Oh, shut up, loser."

She stood up again to bring her bow and blade back to the armory. When she returned, she found Thomas talking with Legolas and Aragorn, and she chuckled at the thought of telling her brother that Legolas was a prince, only to see his reaction. Deep in her heart, she felt small jealousy. She often wished she could be a social butterfly like him, making friends in no time at all. How did he do that?

Legolas looked up at Emery as she arrived. "Shall we?" he asked, and Emery nodded. The next moment, the four were on their way to the Company's camp, ready for lunch. Where Thomas once was nervous around Aragorn, he now talked with him casually.

"No more lunching with the Wardens?" she asked Legolas, who was walking next to her in his always graceful posture. He shook his head. "They are reporting the current situations of the forest to Haldir, the first March Warden." Emery nodded and hummed, thinking about Ava.

"Have you seen Ava today?" she asked. "She must be all alone now that Rúmil's not here." Right at that moment they arrived at the camp, and she saw her best friend talking with Faramir. Emery huffed, somehow not surprised at all.

Thomas went to talk to Gimli and the two seemed to get along very well, and only now she noticed that the way they acted was sort of similar. Thomas' Elvish features and posture hid it well, but how he spoke wasn't very different from the Dwarf.

The only one missing was Gandalf, but Emery figured he was probably with the Lord and Lady, talking about important matters. She went to sit down on the ground, leaning against the roots of a big mallorn tree. Suddenly, a big wave of weariness and exhaustion crushed over her, and she had difficulty with keeping her eyes open. Her head began to nod, the weight of it becoming too heavy for her. The next moment, she dozed off.

 _Her surfboard floated over the dark water of the ocean, the mellow and natural movement familiar to Emery. She was lying down on the board on her back, her hands playing with the water. If she looked down, she'd see a never ending darkness, the deep waters never seeming to reach the bottom. But Emery was looking up, up to the stars. She could spot the Orion constellation and the Big Dipper, but it didn't cross her mind that she shouldn't be able to see them in Middle Earth._

 _She felt at peace; the water felt almost like her natural habitat. She was content and serene, only the sounds of the clutching water resonating in her ears. But somewhere, in the far distance, she heard something. Not that she was surprised; it only made her feel more calm and relaxed._

 _It was a woman. She was humming. Her voice became clearer, and Emery could now hear her singing. She listened, but wasn't overly conscious of it. It felt like she already knew the song, and like she knew the voice. She sang softly and lovingly, and Emery could make out the words._

 _'_ _Hush, Amariel, Ni gellweg an gin cened_

 _I lalaith gîn siria thar nin sui eithel_

 _Gellon ned i galar i chent gîn ned i gladhog_

 _Ci bain sui i elin_

 _Ci bain sui i anor_

 _'_ _Gerog i chûn nîn_

 _Sevog i veleth nîn_

 _Losto vae, ollo vae_

 _Iellig, Amariel, Abarad'_

 _(Hush, Amariel, I am joyful for seeing you_

 _Your laughter flows over me like a spring of water_

 _I love to see your eyes shine when you laugh_

 _You are beautiful as the stars_

 _You are beautiful as the sun_

 _You hold my heart_

 _You have my love_

 _Sleep well, dream well_

 _My daughter, Amariel, until tomorrow)_

 _Emery let out a sigh, hypnotized by the soft sound of the voice. It was so comforting and loving, she felt completely in her element. But then, the water around her began to stir a bit, however Emery didn't notice. Her surfboard wiggled on the water, and her body began to move with it. The water stirred more heavily, and sometimes, Emery's board would dip into the water. Out of the darkness from above, a light shone, becoming more and more bright. Then, she felt she was pulled towards it, and she wasn't on her surfboard in the water anymore._

Her eyes opened, slowly coming back to reality. As her vision became less blurry, she saw Ava squatting in front of her, Thomas standing next to her and the rest merely watching. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and frowned.

"Sleeping Beauty has awoken", Ava muttered amused. Emery groaned and stretched out. "What time is it?" she asked with a croaked voice.

"Just in time for dinner", her best friend answered and held out her arm. Emery gladly took it and was brought back to her balance. When she stood, a loud grumbling was heard, and everyone stared to her tummy. Thomas chuckled. "I guess that's a sign for us to go then", he teased, and with that everyone nodded and left the camp.

Once they arrived in the dining hall, the three immediately went for the middle of the table, where they knew the Company would also sit. But Emery halted when she heard a certain voice in her head, and her eyes wandered to the seats next to Hinnorel and the rest of the Wardens, who were close to Gandalf, Celeborn and Galadriel. She met the Lady's gaze, and hesitantly walked to the seat next to Hinnorel, her brother following her after hearing the same voice. Ava looked confused, and the three traded quick glancing before they sat down. She understood right away, not needing to hear the words 'Galadriel in our head, wanting us to sit with our biological mother'.

Thus, the dinner began, and Emery was introduced properly to Haldir by Hinnorel, seeing that Gandalf and Thomas had traveled with him on their way to Caras Galadhon. Emery couldn't help but notice he was stoic and stiff, probably having lived for many thousands of years. He was broadly built, less slender than most Elves, but she knew it was mostly muscle underneath the skin. She wondered how long he had been March Warden, and how long Hinnorel had had the chance of working with him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Emery", Haldir said and looked at Hinnorel for confirmation with the name. He had known, just like the other wardens, of her children, being named Rochirion and Amariel, but not until they had disappeared. If he had known before the two twins had gone to Earth, they'd be confused by their age and appearance, since they practically were one year old.

"As likewise, my Lord", Emery replied courteously, and secretly hoped Hinnorel had written about him in her journal, wanting to know more of this figure. She was very curious about how she had become the Second March Warden of Lothlórien, and couldn't wait to read about it this coming night.

But apparently, the same question had lingered in Thomas' mind, for he asked shortly after a little chit chat about how Haldir and Hinnorel had become the March Wardens. Haldir launched into a long story of how they had to be qualified enough, and Emery tried to listen, but her attention was fixed on something else.

From her seat at the table, she could see Ava talking merrily to the Company, but especially to Legolas. She was talking to him in hushed tones as she leaned over the table, but even with her Elven ears Emery couldn't make out the words with all the chatter around her. She frowned. Legolas seemed more than interested in what she had to say, and would occasionally look around the table, sometimes meeting Emery's eyes. She looked away, pretending to listen to Haldir's story, but her frown deepened.

What was Ava saying, and why did she look so close with him? Why did she always want so many guys adoring her? Wasn't one enough? She had Rúmil already, and both seemed smitten with each other! Now Legolas had caught her attention too, and Emery felt a sting of jealousy in her heart.

But as soon as she realized that she was feeling that sting, she shook her head internally, forcing to push that thought out of her head, and again focused on the conversation between Haldir, Hinnorel and Thomas.

 _March 5_ _th_ _, 3019_

 _Dear Rochirion, dear Amariel,_

 _You have felt it too; your father and my husband has passed to Mandos. My heart is broken, and the worst thing is that I am never going to see my beloved one again._

 _My heart is filling itself with grief, and I feel my body wants to succumb to it. But I cannot, for I have you. The need for you to be healthy is too great, and I will not allow myself to fade. I recently learned Gandalf was alive and well, and stronger, I must say. He is not the Grey anymore; he is the White. And now I know what I must do._

 _You will not get better after this war; I know this. You are heavily sick, and even the great healers cannot find out what this disease is. Please do not be angry when you read this. I wanted to give this journal to you once you have reached the age of fifty, but I assume I shall give this to Gandalf, who will give it to you in turn._

 _This world is full of peril, and I will not let you grow up in it. You will be safe there, and I cannot wait for your return once you two are old enough. I will miss you dearly, but this will not be a final goodbye. I will not sail to Valinor, and I forbid myself to fade, for you are always in my mind._

 _Much love,_

 _Hinnorel_

Emery closed the journal, a tear rolling down her cheek. She had read the whole night and the dawn was almost breaking, and this was Hinnorel's last 'chapter'. In the beginning, it had merely been a diary for herself: she talked about her sister, her friends and parents. But once she found out she was pregnant of Emery and Thomas, she had started writing it for them. It was touching; Emery could almost feel Hinnorel's excitement as the dates came closer and closer to her giving birth.

From what she knew of the dates, Hinnorel was now more than five THOUSAND years old! It was madness, thought Emery, that she had lived for so many years. For all she knew, Hinnorel would have been born before the age of the Romans on Earth- hell, maybe even before mankind had developed the brains people nowadays had!

She rubbed her eyes, yawning, still thinking about everything she had read. She was stunned that Hinnorel had lived with this journal from her 100th birthday until her current age.

Emery jolted up and sat upright. Speaking of birthdays! It was September the 4th today: she had become 21! She got out of bed and changed into a light green gown. She brushed her hair, washed her face and flew out of her room, straight to Thomas'.

Three times she knocked, and again it took a while for her brother to open the door. She grinned. "Happy birthday, brother", she said happily and gave him a hug.

"What do you mean?" he said confused, not even returning the hug. "It's not even September yet."

She let go of him and cuffed his head playfully. "Silly," she said, "remember what you said about month differences? It's the 4th of September today. Not that anyone knows except for Ava, and I wonder if Hinnorel knows."

They had been wrong. They hadn't even have the chance to descend the stairs to the ground of the woods, since they were intercepted when they were walking past the main hall of the guest flet. They jerked to a halt when approximately twenty people, Ava ahead, stepped in front of them.

The group seemed to wait for a sign, and when Ava suddenly called '3, 2, 1, and…', they all started to sing 'Happy birthday to you' as best as they could, Ava sounding like a cat being strangled compared to the beautiful voices of the Elves and the Company. Emery tried not to laugh, only to fail- just like her brother. It was just too funny seeing the whole Company, some of the Wardens they had talked with and Hinnorel singing this song people always sang on Earth. Even Gandalf sang along merrily, happy twinkles in his eyes.

When they were done, a rather awkward silence filled the room, and Ava shouted 'Hooray' to fill the silence in turn. She walked to Emery and Thomas, giving her best friend a hug.

"So," she said expectantly, "liked the surprise?"

Emery laughed happily and clapped Ava's shoulder. "It was more than perfect, Ava", she said and gave her a grin. Then, the twins thanked everyone and the whole group went to have breakfast together.

"Aragorn," she called over the table to where he was seated. "Are we still training after this?"

He shrugged. "I thought you wouldn't want to train, to be honest, since it is your birthday."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, we'll catch up tomorrow then." But when she looked back to Ava and Thomas, she didn't notice the pained look on his face.

The rest of the morning and half of the afternoon, the three spent in the library. They were lying down on the comfortable chaise longue with a book in their hand, and a pile of books on the ground for further reading. Emery didn't mind sitting here on her birthday; for her, this was paradise.

Just around afternoon tea time, the three split up. Ava to go to Rúmil, Thomas to have a chat with Gimli, and Emery to wander through the forest. Normally, this would be a time for her to think about her life and her new home, but now, she simply walked with a clear head. She wasn't going to allow all those thoughts to linger in her head today.

As she got further away from the center of Caras Galadhon, the lowest branches of the trees were less high above the ground, and Emery grinned. A moment later, she was high above the ground, nestled comfortably against the thick tree trunk.

She had sat there for two hours in silence, listening to the birds and the wind that whistled through the leaves. But when she picked up speaking voices on the ground, she was brought back out of the relaxed state of mind, and focused.

To her surprise, she recognized the voices of Ava and Thomas. She cocked her head. What a coincidence. She was just about to swing down to the ground to make her presence known, when she realized they were talking in serious tones. She sat still and listened.

"That's sad," she heard Ava say. "I kinda hoped they'd stay longer."

"Yeah, I understand," her brother said, sounding gloomy. "But Gimli told me they had to get back to business. I have no idea what it means, but I guess they're really leaving."

Ava sighed. "Emery must be disappointed. I think she has developed a bond with them or something. Especially with Aragorn. He's like a big cousin for her, I think."

As they walked further, not knowing she was up there, Emery felt her eyes becoming watery. Apparently, the Company was leaving Lórien, which meant they were leaving her. As soon as they were out of sight, Emery went down the tree and ran towards the way her brother and best friend had come from; straight to the camp. She couldn't believe it! Now that they had become so close, they were going away!

"So you are leaving then?" she asked when she finally arrived. She had ran as fast as she could, wanting to speak with them before dinner. The men all stopped with what they were doing (mostly packing their stuff) and looked at Emery. She glanced at their packs, all already full of foods and survival stuff, before eyeing Aragorn with a disappointed expression.

"Well?" she asked with a cocked head and waited for them to explain.

Aragorn came to his senses again and nodded slowly. "Yes," he said lowly, "we are leaving in the morrow." He put his swords and the stone he was just using to sharpen it away and stood up, walking towards Emery. "Our course has changed. We are going to hunt the Orcs and Uruks."

She frowned. So they weren't on that mission about that new unknown danger anymore? How much she agreed with wiping all those filthy monstrous creatures out, she didn't want them to go. It was impossible to kill them all, and she simply didn't want them to leave her. They had become such good friends in such short time; she knew she'd miss them a lot.

"I want to go with you", she said determinately, but it didn't come out as confidently as she wanted. She saw Legolas and Gimli sharing looks of worry behind Aragorn, who shook his head fiercely. "No, you will not go with us," he said resolutely. "It is too dangerous."

"But-"

"No, Emery," he said harsher than before. "You have just found your mother and brother here. We will be gone for a long time and you cannot leave them."

Emery wrinkled her nose, frustrated. How long would they be gone? Would she see them again?

"Come now," Aragorn finally said, "we should head for dinner."

There wasn't much said during their walk back, and there wasn't much to speak of during dinner as well. Emery ignored them and avoided to look at them. Why hadn't they told her? It was selfish to think, but why did they have to leave the day after her birthday?

That night, Ava and Thomas went to the Company, but Emery wanted to talk to Hinnorel. Somehow, in the last few weeks she had become closer to her than she had first thought, and she needed her help and advice.

"I have this feeling this is not just about the Company in its whole", the older Elleth said with a mischievous spark in her eyes.

Emery looked up at Hinnorel with a frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hinnorel chuckled softly. "Could it perhaps be the fact that you would miss a certain blond Elf too much?" she asked teasingly, a grin now adding to her playful eyes. Emery blushed, immediately thinking of Legolas. "No," she denied. "Yes. I don't know?"

"I think _I_ know, and you certainly as well," Hinnorel said amused. "But do not fret child, they will come back some time. I am certain they will miss the Golden Wood- _and_ you of course, too much."

And thus, the next morning, during the break of dawn, Emery stood beside Thomas and Ava, watching as some horses seemed to come out of nowhere, led by Guards to the Company.

"We found them on the border of the woods," she heard Galadriel say softly. "They are most likely Gondorian."

Emery widened her eyes when she saw an all too familiar horse, and walked towards the stallion. "Amir?" she whispered to him, and the horse reacted with flicked ears. She closed the distance between them, but was held off by a guard with a stern look.

"That's my horse," she explained. "Aragorn can prove it."

She looked over to Aragorn, who nodded. "That is true," he said. "Let this one stay, we have enough already." Emery patted Amir in affection when the guard nodded and turned to Emery. "You can find him in the stalls", he said and Emery said goodbye to her horse.

She turned back to Aragorn. He smiled and clasped her shoulders. "You are going to fine, Emery," he said kindly. "And the Company will always find to visit the Golden Wood once again." Emery smiled and hugged him, surprising him a bit. He returned the hug luckily, and her smile grew wider. They had become very close, almost brother and sisterly, during their trainings every morning. She pulled away and gave him another smile, moving on to Faramir. Now that she had said her goodbye to Aragorn, she couldn't just go away without saying the same goodbye to the rest.

She smiled at Faramir, who she was less close with, but still friendly. "Goodbye, Faramir," she said, "and good luck." He nodded with a smile and said goodbye as well.

She moved on to the two Hobbits. "Well," she sighed, "I'll certainly miss your funny jokes, Merry and Pippin." They grinned. "And we will miss you", Merry said.

"And your stew, Emery!" Pippin added. "It was good, really. Perhaps you could show us the recipe when we meet again."

Emery chuckled and nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

She didn't hug them, Gimli neither, for it would be an awkward one with the difference in heights. "Goodbye lass," Gimli said. "I agree with the Halflings; once we meet again, make us some stew!"

"I will, Gimli", Emery smiled and turned to Legolas, who was talking in hushed tones with his horse, also glad to be reunited with him. Emery looked at the scenery with a sad smile, disappointed he had to leave. There was so much they had yet to talk about; so much wisdom he could share with her.

But she knew she wasn't sad about that. No, it really was something else. But she couldn't figure out why she was feeling that. It was so confusing and so sudden. Next to Aragorn, Legolas was the one she had talked with the most.

Feeling her presence, the blond Elf turned around. Emery blushed as she got closer to him. "Hi", she said, not knowing what else to say.

"Hello", he replied with a smile.

Emery shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Well," she mumbled, "uhm, good luck with slaying Orcs and Uruks and stuff." Legolas smiled at her and let go of the horse's reigns.

"Thank you," he said softly and then seemed to realize something. "I have something for you."

Emery watched as he walked to the packs that were tied to the saddle of the horse. But he didn't search through them, and only now Emery could see that there was an extra bow strapped to his horse. He loosened it from the saddle and held then turned to her, the bow in carefully in his hands. Emery tilted her head.

"I could not help but notice how attached you are to this bow," Legolas began. "I know you could probably have bought it yourself, but let me do the honor."

Emery gasped at the Galadhrim bow she loved so much, but could never buy it for she had no coins. She shook her head. "Legolas, no," she stammered, "I can't accept this. You shouldn't have done that for me."

Legolas smiled. "It is a gift, Emery," he replied and practically pushed he bow in her hands. "I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but I could not find the time, I am sorry for that."

He watched how she traced the flowery carvings with her fingers, looking at it as if it was the first time she laid her eyes on the bow. "It's okay," she said softly and looked up at him. "Thank you."

"'tis no problem."

She smiled and threw the bow over her shoulder, now more carefully than she'd normally do though. For a few seconds, she just stared at him, but as soon as she became conscious of this, she diverted her eyes from him.

"Uhm," Emery mumbled again, "be careful, will you?"

Legolas chuckled. "I am more than two thousand years old, Emery," he said amused. "I think I can protect myself."

"I know," she said awkwardly, "but still. Stay safe." The Elf nodded. "I will," he said and grabbed hold of the reigns again. "Goodbye, Emery."

"Goodbye Legolas", she replied, and watched him lead the horse to the rest of the Company. She swallowed the lump in her throat away and wiggled on her feet, now holding the bow in her hands again, and rubbing over the carvings with her thumb. She had wanted to say so much more, but couldn't seem to find the words.

"You will see him again, dear Emery," a gruff voice said, and she turned to Gandalf. "But for now, live your life here safely." She smiled and hugged the old White Wizard. "Goodbye, Gandalf," she said. "And thanks for everything."

It wasn't known to Emery that even Galadriel hadn't been able to comprehend the new danger. She could not see anything in the mirror but a darkness; not even the slightest hint was made known. The only thing that was known to the Lady, Lord Celeborn and the Company was that the Orcs and Uruks were growing in number rapidly; and this needed to be stopped. Thus, the Company left, on their way to the edge of the Golden Wood, and ready to hunt some Orc.

* * *

 **Phew, that's a long one!**

 **DON'T BE SCARED THAT I ABANDONED THE COMPANY! Why do you think there will be a second part? ;))))**

 **Anyways, let me know what you think of the chapter and if I should make it a trilogy or one big 'novel'! Thanks for reading and stick around for Part II ! :)**

 **-xoxo-**


	19. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hey guys!

So I'm working on the sequel to The Unexpectedly Changed Life of Emery! I'll update as soon as I can, it's like really busy in this time of the year with school and everything.

So put on post notification, so that you'll know when the story's up!

I hope you enjoyed this first part, and thanks so much for reading and the very, very kind reviews!

-xoxo-


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